Project Renewal – Hogwarts
by mmooch
Summary: **Part of the 2015 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. Buffy and her staff have to face a lot of challenges to improve Hogwarts…starting with pureblood bigots. Includes other fandoms as crossovers, too.
1. Index

Since this is a single story instead of a series, I'm putting up an index page to serve as a brief reminder of who I put on Buffy's staff last year. I may or may not cover each one with their own chapter. This will likely be some changes during August. And they probably will not appear in this order all the time.

Index Page:

1\. Headmistress - Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS))

2 Deputy - Cole Turner (Charmed)

3\. Administrative Assistant - Walter Harriman (SG1)

4\. School Treasurer - Anya Jenkins-Harris (BtVS)

5\. Healer - Madame Pomfrey (Harry Potter (HP)); Assistants: Greg Focker (Meet the Parents) & Peter Petrelli (Heroes)

6\. Counselors - Dr. Alfred Bellows (I Dream of Jeannie) & Dr. Marlena Evans (-Black) (Days of Our Lives; Assistant: Lorne aka The Host (Angel the Series)

7a. Security - Rubeus Hagrid (HP) & Worf (Star Trek: DS9 timeline) + security personnel

7b. Security personnel - Leroy Jethro Gibbs (NCIS), Jason Gideon (Criminal Minds), Robert Goren (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), various Aurors, including James Potter and Sirius Black (HP)

8\. Potionmaster (only responsible for making potions, unless a substitute is needed for class) - Severus Snape (HP); Apprentice: Dawn Summers (BtVS)

9\. Librarian - Madame Pince (HP); Assistant: Blair Sandburg (The Sentinel (TS))

10\. School Commissary - Jackson Gibbs (NCIS)

11\. Heads of House, Hufflepuff (1st and 2nd years) - Luke Danes (Gilmore Girls (GG)) and Amanda Stetson - previously King (Scarecrow and Mrs. King (S&MK))

12\. Heads of House, Ravenclaw (3rd and 5th years) - Lee Stetson (S&MK) and Lorelai Gilmore (GG)

13\. Heads of House, Gryffindor (5th years) - Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham (Happy Days)

14\. Heads of House, Slytherin (6th years) - Nate Ford (Leverage (L)) and Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars)

15\. Heads of House, Merlin (7th years) - Cliff and Claire Huxtable (The Cosby Show)

16\. Arithmancy - To Be Determined (TBD)

17\. Astronomy - Raj Koothrappali (The Big Bang Theory (TBBT)); part-time Assistant: Jon O'Neill (Stargate SG1 (SG1))

18\. Charms - Filius Flitwick (HP); Assistant Lily Potter (HP)

19\. Care of Magical Creatures - Fester Addams (The Addams Family (TAF)); Assistant: Eliza Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys)

20\. Magical Protections (formerly DADA) - Agatha Harkness (Fantastic Four); Assistant: Tara Maclay (BtVS)

21\. Divination - Ava Nicolae (C); Assistant (sort of): Drusilla (BtVS)

22\. Herbology - Madame Sprout (HP); Assistant: Morticia Addams (TAF)

23\. History/History of Magic - Adam Pierson aka Methos (Highlander); Assistant: Remus Lupin (HP)

24\. Muggle Studies - Jarod (The Pretender); Assistant: Samantha Stevens (Bewitched)

25\. Wizarding Studies - Augusta Longbottom (HP); Assistant: Andromeda Tonks (HP)

26\. Potions - Zelda Spellman (Sabrina the Teenage Witch); Assistant: TBD

27\. Runes - Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones movie franchise); Assistant: Bathsheda Babbling (HP); Guest speaker: Lara Croft (Lara Croft movie franchise)

28\. Transfiguration - Minerva McGonagall (HP); Assistant (?): Balthazar Blake (The Sorcerer's Apprentice)

29\. Music - Glenn Holland (Mr. Holland's Opus); Assistant: Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne (BtVS)

30\. English - John Keating (Dead Poet's Society); Assistant: Chloe Sullivan (Smallville)

31\. Foreign Languages - Jon O'Neill (Latin) & Jason Bourne (multiple languages) (The Bourne Trilogy)

32\. Math - Larry Fleinhardt (Numb3rs); Assistant: TBD

33\. Physical Education - Jim Ellison (TS); Assistant: TBD

34\. Science - Doctor Emmett Brown (Back to the Future), Beast (X-Men), Angus MacGyver (MacGyver), Ms. Frizzle (Magic School Bus), Mr. Wizard aka Nicolas Flamel (Watch Mr. Wizard), Dr. Arthur Jefferies (TBBT); Guest Lecturers: Mythbusters

35\. Estate Planning - Gomez Addams (TAF)

36\. Ethics - Agatha Harkness

37\. Home Ec - Eliot Spencer (L) & Edna Garrett (The Facts of Life)

I know there was a Caretaker, but the security positions and house elves can cover for that one.

If I have missed any positions/courses, please drop me a line. Also feel free to nominate people for the various available slots. All but like six of the jobs I'd like to have two people (preferably one HP character and one non-HP character). If you're familiar with my writing, you probably know the fandoms I feel most comfortable working with, so keep that in mind when you make your suggestions.


	2. Chapter 1: August 1, 2015 – Headmistress

**Project Renewal – Hogwarts**

Summary: **Part of the 2015 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts FaD** series. Buffy and her staff have to face a lot of challenges to improve Hogwarts…starting with pureblood bigots.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise - during Buffy's 12 months or so as Headmistress. A few years post-Sunnydale of an AU BtVS. AU for HP set in 1981-1982.

Warning: Lots of AU fandoms.

A/N: It would really, _really_ help to read last year's FaD _"Help Wanted" – Hogwarts_ if you haven't already.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Charmed characters belong to Constance M. Burge and the WB. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

 **Chapter 1: August 1, 2015 – Headmistress Buffy**

 **Hogwarts**

Buffy waited semi-patiently as the crowd of 'concerned' school board members harped on and on about some of the changes she made over the past few months. They were up to the requirement that all magically-raised students must take Muggle Studies. Nevermind the fact that all Muggle-raised students had to take Wizard Studies, as well. Mentioning that was pointless because it involved logic, and logic had no place in histrionics.

It all boiled down to them thinking that she was trying to destroy a thousand years of honored traditions for 'no good reason'.

When it appeared like their spokesman was done ranting, she put on her best Quentin Travers (snooty and dismissive) expression and replied a bit harshly, "Did you not decide, voluntarily, to give me the position of Headmistress of this school?"

Taken off-balance by her attitude, the spokesman answered, "Yes, but-"

Buffy cut him off, "And as a part of that offer, you gave me the authority to make any changes I felt were necessary…as long as they didn't endanger the students' safety. Are you claiming their safety is worse off than it was a year ago? Because I have documentation to prove otherwise."

He tried to speak up again, but she went on like a steamroller, "Your list of concerns did not mention safety anywhere. Therefore, unless you intend to remove me as Headmistress, I will thank you to let me do my job. My job is to provide the students of this school with a quality education in a safe and disciplined – yet nurturing – environment."

Her tone made it clear they were dismissed, but in case they were duller than most, she pushed a non-emergency button on her desk to alert her security personnel in the outer office that they were to come into her office.

"The board members were just leaving," she told Worf and Hagrid. "Can you escort them to the gate, please?" _Nobody_ got to wander her school unescorted unless they were on staff or were students, and board members were not staff in Buffy's mind. It didn't matter that it was summer and there were not students around.

After Worf and Hagrid led them out of the office, Cole turned to Buffy with a look of bemusement. "Aren't you concerned they might remove you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. They won't fire me without cause so soon after giving me the position because that would make them seem like idiots for giving the job to an unqualified person simply because I killed Voldemort – which they are. They'll probably be waiting like vultures for me to screw up, though. Even though it would logically still be their fault, at least then they could place the blame on me for getting one of their children hurt or killed. Weird to think that at least one of them is hoping for that to happen."

"And if you're wrong?" Cole persisted. "I doubt they'd keep many of the people you hired…especially the muggles."

"Then I'll start my own school," Buffy responded in a deceptively glib fashion. "As far as I can tell, Hogwarts is the only school of its kind in this country- region, whatever. It could stand a little competition. We could find some place in a different area…maybe Foulness Island, for example. That's about 10 square miles and has a small population. At first it would probably be mostly just first generation witches and wizards, but it would be available for any that speak English."

"Why do I get the feeling that you've already thought about this?" Cole asked rhetorically. "Do you honestly believe the Ministry would let you start a school that competes with Hogwarts?"

"The people that would object the loudest are the ones that resent educating the first generation witches and wizards, so I don't think they'd give me any grief until it was too late. After we're an established school, they'd look stupid for objecting when they didn't see it as a problem earlier. But if they do, then I'll change it to a school for Slayer Potentials, Watchers, Wiccans and those deemed unworthy of education by the Ministry – like children bitten by werewolves."

"You're expecting them to try and shut you down, don't you?" Cole asked, this time wanting an answer.

"Given the attitudes of most of the wizards in power right now? Yes," Buffy answered. "But things could change once we strip away some of those biased attitudes. I'm just not sure if we'll be around long enough for that to happen."

"And you'd keep the staff you hired…including those like me?" he wondered with more than a little concern. This opportunity stopped him from sinking further into his obsession with Phoebe and he didn't want to lose it because of some stupid bigots.

"You mean those with demony roots? Of course!" she assured him. "We already have quite a few demon allies for the slaying stuff. Besides, if you want to get all technical about it, Slayers have demony roots, too. It'd be pretty hypocritical of us to turn away you when our powers are demonic. We voted on it and determined that as long as you aren't evil, you're welcome in our group. We get a kick out of knowing that the old management would hate that policy."

Cole breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I'll admit that's a load off my mind. You had me worried when you taunted those bigots like that."

She grinned impishly. "Gotta keep life interesting."

* * *

A/N: And so we're back for another month of Hogwarts schooling stuff. I hope I have the energy and inspiration to last the whole 31 days this year.


	3. Chapter 2: August 2, 2015 – Cole

**Chapter 2: August 2, 2015 – Cole**

Chapter Summary: Cole has to face his past.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – spring of Cole's first school year as deputy; end of season 5 for Charmed.

Warning: more AU-ness for BtVS/AtS.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Charmed characters belong to Constance M. Burge and the WB. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Ministry of Magic**

Cole joined Buffy for her weekly visit with Willow at Willow's request. When they got comfortable, Willow dropped two bombshells on them. "First things first…Buffy, I was just informed by the Minister of Magic that the Prime Minister of England has a decree for you from the Queen. The gist of it is you're in charge of the Watchers' Council now…or rather somebody you like and trust is."

"She has the authority to do that?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"To both the Council and the Ministry of Magic," Willow confirmed. "They both have charters that go back hundreds of years that pledge their loyalty to the Crown. Now that means more to the Ministry than it does to the Council…if the Council really thought about it. The Ministry has no choice but to stay in England since it's the English Ministry of Magic. But the Council is an international organization. If they didn't want to listen to the Queen, they could just disband in England and start over in another country," she said with a slight roll of her eyes.

Buffy started giggling until she had tears forming in her eyes. She now ran the organization that tried to kill her and Faith because the people in charge didn't want to move. "Oh my gosh, that's too funny!" she gasped out eventually. After taking a few deep breaths, she asked, "Can you spare Giles?"

Willow nodded. "As much as I need him here, we need him running the Council more. He's trying to lure Wes and Fred away from Wolfram & Hart to head a couple departments for him."

"That'll be good for them to get out of that place," Buffy said. "I'm surprised they haven't been fully corrupted yet."

"The Senior Partners really just want Angel," Cole interjected. "Getting the others is a nice bonus, but hardly worth the effort of fighting to keep them. Since Angel is essentially immortal, they can take their time to corrupt him over decades. If he doesn't leave, I can picture him being as bad as Angelus – if not worse – in about 50 years or so. They'd wait until all the humans he brought with him left or died. Until then, they'd simply transfer the worst of their clients to other branches around the world."

Buffy shot him a look of alarm. "What should we do?"

He shrugged. "Unless you can get him to tell the truth about why he joined them, there isn't much you can do. I'm assuming they have something over him, but I have no clue what it could be. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have to do with that evil goddess Jasmine who tried to take over the world just before he signed on with Wolfram & Hart."

Buffy and Willow thought back to that time…which apocalypse was that during? Faith had shown up after helping Willow put Angelus back in his cage. That would make it the "Idiots who thought they were playing a D&D-type game, but actually summoning real demons through the Hellmouth" world-endage. That one was heavy on the fighting, but light on the evil intent behind it. Faith proved herself to the gang more than once that year, and Xander was the one who eventually found out who was behind the monsters and how they were doing it when he was invited to one of their game nights.

Willow shook herself out of her thoughts and said, "Speaking of apocalypse stuff, there's some things happening back in your area, Cole. That's why I need to talk to you."

"The sisters?" he guessed.

"We aren't entirely sure what's going on with them," Willow admitted. "The Devon Coven's seer knows that it's something the Power of Three has to take care of, but until they do, we have to protect innocents that might be caught in the crossfire. Having you go there is a bad idea, I know, because it would just distract the sisters, but do you have any contacts you could talk to about what's happening over there?"

"Except for the evil ones – who would probably try to kill me as soon as they saw me – the only two I can think of are Darryl and Leo…and neither one like me very much because of my history with the sisters. Although Leo might be willing to listen to me if you're with me, Buffy. Your reputation is impressive enough that you're known even in our part of the magical community," Cole explained.

Buffy fought the urge to blush as she said, "Okay, where should we go to talk to him?"

* * *

 **San Francisco**

Staring over the edge of the bridge-thingy, Buffy shuddered at the height. Ever since Glory, she found she was afraid of major heights like this.

"Don't worry, Buffy. I won't let you fall and nobody can see us up here," Cole assured her. "I think that's why Leo likes coming here to think and meditate. Leo!" he called.

A few seconds later, Leo orbed in with a concerned look on his face. "Cole…what are you doing here…and now?" he asked suspiciously.

"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers. I don't know if you remember me from few months ago at Hogwarts?" she interrupted.

Leo nodded. "The Slayer. It's good to meet you, but I don't have a lot of time to talk right now."

"Something world-endy going on that only the sisters can deal with?" Buffy guessed.

"I don't know," Leo answered. "And what makes me nervous is that even the Elders don't know…but they are very worried about whatever it is."

Cole entered the conversation, "Some witches that work with Buffy suggested that I come here to find out what's happening and to offer our help in any way we can. Their seer knows that the upcoming fight requires the Power of Three to stop it, but any time there's a fight, there's usually something others can do to help to protect innocents."

"And _you're_ offering to help the side of good, Belthazor?" Leo asked somewhat skeptically. He knew that Cole was allied with the Slayer now, but he also had gone through this in the past when Cole tried to give up being a demon for Phoebe.

"I'll admit that I made some serious mistakes with Phoebe and the sisters, but over the past several months, I've learned that they made some as well," Cole said before Buffy could jump to his defense. "My obsession to destroy them as Belthazor shifted into a romantic obsession with Phoebe later on, and I fooled myself into believing it was real love. If it had been real, I wouldn't have had to stop being who I was to be with Phoebe, though."

"So you're saying that she should have accepted you being evil?" Leo demanded.

"No, I'm saying she should have accepted my demonic side as long as I was using those powers for good," Cole retorted.

Leo could see his point…sort of, but still replied, "But you enjoyed killing too much."

Snorting, Cole answered, "And the sisters don't enjoy vanquishing demons? Even a little bit?"

"Hell, I get a rush out of killing vamps. Does that mean _I'm_ evil, too?" Buffy asked. "Wait, according to you and the sisters, I must be since my powers come from a demon way back when the First Slayer was created by mystical shamans."

"Really?" Leo asked in considerable surprise. He had never thought about how the First Slayer had come into being before, and learning her powers were demonic in nature threw his world off-kilter. "I get your point, Cole – and Buffy – but I wouldn't expect the sisters to believe you anytime soon…or ever."

"It really doesn't matter," Cole said. "I have no plans to return to this part of the world again. It's a bad place for me. I'm just here to introduce you to a valuable group of allies. Buffy and her people _can_ help you."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a backup plan or two," Leo allowed. "But right now, I have to get back to Piper before the Elders stop all orbing. We've already lost one Whitelighter to something, and until we find out what it is…" he trailed off.

"Alright. While you work with the sisters, we'll try to come up with some ideas to keep everyone safe," Cole promised his ex-brother-in-law. "Be careful, I don't know what they'd do without you."

Leo smiled grimly, then orbed to the marriage counselor's office to meet Piper. He hoped that she could forgive him for keeping Cole's assistance in whatever this was from her and her sisters.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so not so heavy on the school stuff, but I really wanted that conversation between Leo and Cole about using demonic powers for good. Plus I had to deal with the fact that last year, I had Travers and the rest of the Council alive, but yesterday implied that Buffy and her friends were in charge. Oops? And as you can tell, season 5 of Angel was different from canon (seeing as Fred is still alive more than 5 years later). The storyline of the First Evil never happened in this reality; I'm not sure how Buffy beat Glory either, but most of seasons 6 & 7 were different than canon.


	4. Chapter 3: Aug 3, 2015 – Designing Hogwa

**Chapter 3: August 3, 2015 – Designing Hogwarts, Part 1**

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Buffy's first week

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Stairwell**

Buffy was taking some time out of her day to look around the school a little. It probably wouldn't instill confidence in the students if she got lost. She was halfway up the staircase when it started moving, catching her off-guard enough to make her fall a little. If she had been at the bottom, or didn't have Slayer reactions, she could have gotten seriously injured or possibly even killed by this damn place!

Once she got off the staircase, Buffy called for one of the house elves to bring her back to her office using the most direct/least dangerous route. "Do you know if there's a handbook for the Headmasters?" she asked the elf before he left.

He shook his head and said, "I am sorry, Mistress Slayer, I do not. The headmaster portraits should be able to tell you."

"Thanks…what is your name?" she asked.

"Twain, Mistress Slayer, after the American author," he answered.

"Thanks, Twain. I'd like you to pass along a message to all the elves for me, okay? I'd rather not advertise the fact I'm a Slayer. I'd appreciate it if you called me Miss Buffy instead."

"You are the Headmistress of the school, so we must use the proper title, Mistress Buffy," Twain informed her.

"Okay, that'll have to do, then. Bye, Twain," she said in dismissal. She tried asking the various headmaster portraits for help, but most of them were horrified that a 'Muggle' was in charge of the world's greatest magical school and literally turned their backs on her.

Finally, she lost her patience and yell, "Can _any_ of you tell me what I need to know?"

One of the portraits near the ceiling called back, "I can, Headmistress. If you push the button on the column closest to me, it will bring my portrait down to where you can see me more easily."

Buffy followed the instructions and in a few minutes was looking at a brunette woman named…Buffy's eyebrows raised at the name on the plaque. "Rowena Ravenclaw?" she asked.

"The first headmistress of Hogwarts. Despite what some of the history books suggest, most of the earliest leaders of this school were women because the men tended to get distracted by wars and such. That left it up to us women to educate and protect our children," Rowena informed Buffy.

"I guess that makes sense," Buffy agreed. "Since you were one of the Founders, maybe you can tell me how to make this school less of a deathtrap."

"What do you mean?" Rowena demanded, nonplussed at the insult to her greatest handiwork.

"I was just on one of the staircases and almost fell to my death because it started moving without warning," Buffy exaggerated in her frustration.

Rowena growled in her frame, "Somebody removed the safeties from the staircases?!"

"So they weren't designed that way? That's a huge relief to find out," Buffy said.

"We would never endanger the students or teachers by making the school unsafe in any way!" Rowena practically yelled. "When I find out which one of you did that, I'm going to make you suffer horribly!" she screeched at the other portraits.

"Yikes," Buffy said softly, then said hesitantly, "I'm not sure I should ask this now, but is there some kind of magical trick to changing Hogwarts into an easier-to-navigate place?"

"What do you mean?" Rowena asked.

"I feel like I'm in a funhouse at a carnival when I try to find my way to a classroom or dorm. I'm going down a hallway, turn a corner and find a dead-end. What's that about?" Buffy explained.

"Hippogriff food…when I find out who messed up my school, they're hippogriff food!" Rowena vowed. She paused to take a deep, cleansing breath, then said, "It is – unfortunately – the right of any headmaster/headmistress to alter the school. It was meant to make it easier for them to make the necessary adjustments over the years to match the school's needs at that time."

"Do I need to be magical to make those changes?" Buffy asked.

"It would help, but as long as you have somebody magical to input your ideas, the school can manage on its own," Rowena said. "Even one of the elves could do it for you."

"Where do we make the changes?" Buffy asked.

"In my old chambers; it used to be on the first floor, near the entryway. Just a hint when you go there: you must open it while thinking 'The headmistress needs Rowena Ravenclaw's chambers' or you may only find a broom closet. You see, I put a spell on the door to make the room turn into whatever the person needs," Rowena confided.

"I don't think it's there anymore because it's just a staircase and the Great Hall near the front door," Buffy informed her.

"I suppose that makes sense," Rowena said, surprising Buffy. "When it isn't being used, it is supposed to move a part of the school where people won't stumble upon it too often."

"Then I'll ask one of the teachers or house elves…since these buttheads refuse to help me," Buffy said, pointing towards the other portraits. "I'll see you when I get back."

* * *

 **Hallway**

After passing the gargoyle which guarded her office, Buffy called out, "Twain?"

"Yes, Mistress Buffy?" he inquired politely.

"Are you busy?" she asked, getting a blank look in response…as if he didn't understand the question. "Were you in the middle of something or can you help me find a room?"

"Twain can help," he answered. "What room is Mistress Buffy searching for?"

"Well, it used to be Rowena Ravenclaw's chamber, but it got moved from its original place by the front door. She said it can change into other rooms, too," Buffy tried to explain, even though she didn't really understand how that worked herself.

"Ahh, the 'comes and goes room' is what Mistress Buffy wants," Twain decided. He led her up to the seventh floor and pointed out a troll ballet portrait and explained to her, "You must walk past this portrait three times while thinking of what you need. A door will appear then."

Buffy did as she was instructed and was rewarded with a doorway. She peaked inside and said, "Thanks, Twain. I'll poke around in here a little bit. You can get back to whatever you were doing."

* * *

A/N: Part two will actually be the design of Hogwarts (get ready for some Xander screen-time). This was just to prove to Buffy she needed to change the school.


	5. Chapter 4: Aug 4, 2015 – Designing Hogw2

**Chapter 4: August 4, 2015 – Designing Hogwarts, Part 2**

Chapter Summary: Xander explains the new layout of Hogwarts to Buffy

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Winter break of Buffy's first year (1981-1982)

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Rowena's chamber**

"So what have you got for me, Xan?" Buffy asked.

Xander had been going over building schematics for the past couple months, getting input from the teachers about what they needed and/or wanted. He was grateful that after Sunnydale High was rebuilt, his foreman suggested that he do some night classes to learn architecture and CAD. He wasn't an architect yet, but he had a better idea of needed to be done. For the stuff he wasn't sure about, he asked professionals for help.

"The good news is that once we get the plans loaded into the building matrix thing, the castle will build itself," he started. "Before that can happen, the castle has to be empty. By empty, I mean even the basilisk has to be out, and everything has to be packed up and moved out. Anything that's left in the castle will be used as material for the renovations."

"That's a lot of stuff to move out," Buffy hedged. "Where can we store it all? And how long will it take the castle to renovate itself?"

"We can't be sure about how long it will take because there hasn't been this massive of a change since the school was originally built. However…" Xander held up his hand when it looked like Buffy was going to say something. "Based on the formulas for other changes, the math geeks have determined it should take about 2 months, give or take a week or two."

She bit her lip in nervousness. "That's cutting it awfully close. Even if we can get the castle emptied by the time the students leave for the summer, that doesn't give us a lot of wiggle room for when they return. Have you talked to the elves and asked them how long it would take them to pack everything?" she asked.

"If they concentrate solely on packing, they think about a month. Now I know that doesn't give us enough time to do everything during the summer, but there's a _lot_ of unused space in this castle. If they can pack up the empty parts during the school year, they could finish the rest within a week," Xander promised.

"Where would we store all the moving boxes once the castle was completely packed?" Buffy asked. "I kinda doubt the Wizarding World has heard of self-storage facilities."

Xander looked excited at her question. "Okay, you've seen the expandable trunks, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't think we can afford to buy enough of them to pack everything in them…even if there were enough to buy," she said.

"Doesn't matter, we'd only use trunks for the fragile items like books – and yeah, it sounds weird saying that books are more fragile than dishes or other stuff, but I've been told those are the items we have to be the most careful with when packing them away," he explained. "Anyway, there's something similar to those trunks called wizarding tents…meaning they're bigger on the inside than the outside."

"Like the TARDIS?" Buffy asked, cringing as soon as the words left her mouth. "Please don't tell Giles I know that," she pleaded.

Xander's grin was decidedly evil and she knew she was going to be blackmailed over this for weeks or months to come. "Yes. Anyway, I went to the makers of those tents and asked for a moving box version; instead of an apartment, there would be several compartments which you could store your belongings together while keeping them separated in whatever fashion you want. I would suggest storing all the furniture in however many it takes to fit everything in the castle. One compartment can be the furniture from the infirmary, another from the Great Hall, and so on."

"How much do they cost?" she inquired warily.

"Since I gave them the idea – as well as the suggestion they market it to businesses for exporting/importing as well as families who want to move – they agreed to let us rent the first production run for one galleon per unit per month instead of buying them. Figure an average of three units per floor, seven floors plus two basements – so actually nine floors – for at least three months, some of them possibly up to five or six months…somewhere between 81 and 162 galleons?" he said.

"And you really think you'd only need three per floor? How big are these things on the inside?" Buffy asked.

"They have about the same storage space as 3 semi-trailers," Xander answered.

Buffy mulled it over in her head for a few minutes, then asked, "How soon can they get them to us?"

"They're already in production and should be ready by the end of February," he said.

"So we'll have a bunch of tents on the castle grounds?" she wanted to know.

Xander shook his head. "They're stackable like the trunks – but obviously bigger – so we could cordon off an area and keep them there under a weatherproof tarp."

"How big are they?"

"Outside, they're just under 10x10x10 feet. They're actually 3x3x3 meters. About one-third the size of a semi-trailer…approximately. We can stack them three high, so we'd need a space about 20x50 feet," he explained.

"Given the circumstances, that sounds reasonable," Buffy admitted. "Go ahead and tell them we'd like ten of those things, and I'll let the elves know that as soon as they arrive, they can start packing up the unused portions of the castle. I'll tell the students tonight what's happening so they don't freak out if they see stuff disappearing over the next several months. Now wow me with the design of the new castle," she demanded.

"Well, it won't be that 'wow', unless you're thinking, 'Wow, that's logical!'" Xander said. "To start with, we're leaving the Chamber of Secrets basically alone; it won't be part of the school plans. We just have to remove the basilisk during construction because the Chamber will get a spruce up and we don't want her converted during the renovation.

"We're only adding one level to the school, and that is a rooftop garden area, so conservation of materials should work in our favor. Each class year will have its own wing, as well as the staff."

"Eight wings? What does this look like?" Buffy interrupted.

"Okay, so wings isn't the right term, I guess," Xander admitted sheepishly. "Let's call them corridors instead, and there are actually ten. It looks sort of like a stop sign from above, but with ten sides instead of eight.

"We'll keep the idea of two basement levels; one mostly for storage, but Snape's potions lab and living quarters will be there, too…at his request. There's also a 2-level kitchen in the center. Next up from that are the elves' living quarters and the upper level of the kitchen.

"First ground floor will have the formal Great Hall – 2-levels high - surrounded by classrooms, the main infirmary, administrative offices and a swimming pool. Second floor continues the classrooms, but starts the staff living quarts in one corridor, the 4-levels-high library and a 2-level gym – which is on the opposite side of the school from the library.

"The only change on the third floor is that the center area is a 2-levels high auditorium/planetarium. Fourth has a theatre on the corridor where the gym and pool were.

"Fifth is the beginning of the living quarters for the students…sort of. The center is a common area for all the students surrounded by common areas for each house. This is where the school store will be. Sixth floor will be the boys' dorms surrounding the informal 2-level breakfast hall. There'll be a smaller infirmary there, as well as the first level of the owlery.

"Seventh floor is obviously the girls' dorms and the second level of the owlery. Last, but not least is the rooftop. There's a courtyard area in the center for all the years to enjoy, surrounded by areas for each of the houses. Staff gets their own area, too.

"To make it easier to get around, there's a walkway on each floor separating the center area from the outer ring. Each corridor will have their own staircase, elevator and floo connection. Those floos are for internal travel only – like if you had to get from the breakfast hall down to Snape's lab. The only external floo connections will be in your office and the infirmaries. Each floor will have eight bathrooms; four girls and four boys.

"To keep some of the charm from the current design, there'll be bridge connecting to a clocktower over the boathouse – with an escalator-ish stairway up to the castle level. Those first year kids are tired and hungry when they get here and don't need to climb a hundred stairs or more," Xander finished his spiel.

"Sounds good. I'll let you know if I have any changes," Buffy said.

* * *

A/N: Can you think of anything 'Xander' missed? Let me know if I need to add/subtract anything. I will be keeping the shape of the school unless you do an awesome job of convincing me…like 'selling heaters to people in hell' convincing.


	6. Chapter 5: August 5, 2015 – Security

**Chapter 5: August 5, 2015 – Security**

Chapter Summary: The Marauders give Buffy a few ideas to make the school safer.

Warning: some swearing

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – August 1982, after the school has rebuilt itself

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Leverage characters belong to John Rogers, Chris Downey, and TNT. Star Trek character belongs to Gene Roddenberry, CBS and Paramount Pictures. Jason Bourne belongs to Robert Ludlum, The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Relativity Media. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Staff conference room**

Over the shuffling of people finding their seats, Buffy heard Sirius entreaty James, "You suggest it to her. She doesn't hate _you_."

"Yeah, but she doesn't like me much more than you," James shot back. "Maybe we should have Remus do it. She actually likes him…for some reason."

Buffy caught Remus' eye from his place across the table from his school friends and they shared a slight grin, each knowing the other heard the whispered conversation.

While she didn't want to advertise the fact she was a Slayer, Buffy also didn't want to make any of her more supernatural staff members feel uneasy around her. That meant 'coming out' to Remus and Jim Ellison – both of whom returned the favor. She also convinced Oz to do the same with those two. Yes, there were other supernatural people (apart from the 'normal' witches and wizards), but those already knew what and who she was.

Back to Sirius and James, though. Buffy watched from the corner of her eye as Lily leaned over to James and whispered, "Maybe she likes him because he doesn't interfere with staff meetings by talking so she can't start."

Buffy snorted, then turned it into a throat-clearing cough to get everyone's attention. "If everyone is comfortable, why don't we get started with today's meeting. As you've already seen, Hogwarts has undergone some fairly drastic changes since school let out a couple months ago. You'll each get a map of the layout of the school, and feel free to wander around afterwards so you can get a feel for the place before the students get here. I'd like to introduce Xander Harris, the amateur architect who came up with the design based on suggestions from the staff…which I guess means that you probably already know who he is. I'll let him explain the process."

* * *

 **A little while later…**

Once the meeting drew to a close, Buffy called out, "Could James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin stay behind for another meeting, please?"

"Ooo, somebody's in trouble with the principal!" Xander sing-songed. "I mean headmistress!" He suddenly blushed and apologized to Buffy softly, "That came out dirtier than I meant…sorry."

"You goof, get out of here before I make you sit next to Snape for your meals this week," Buffy mock-threatened him.

When the room cleared, Buffy started by saying, "Just so you know, I don't hate any of my staff. If I did, they wouldn't be here. Now…what is it that you need to tell me?"

Since she didn't tell them about her night job, James and Sirius looked stunned that she knew what they were saying earlier. "Can you read minds?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"No. I have my methods of finding things out," she answered with a slightly evil smile.

Shaking off the chill that ran down his spine, James said, "We have a couple things from our school days which you have security use to keep the students safe."

Remus was taken aback. He knew what they were referring to…probably…and couldn't believe lifelong pranksters would destroy the ability of students to sneak around the school.

"Security issues?" Buffy asked. "Just a sec while I get some people back in here." She quickly wrote some names down on a slip of paper and called out, "Scooby!" When the house elf arrived, she handed him the slip and said, "Can you ask all these gentlemen to come back right away? Thanks!"

While she was doing that, Remus leaned over and asked why they were doing this when it went against everything they stood for as Marauders. Surprisingly, it was Sirius who answered him, "When Buffy chewed my ass out for what I did to you and Snape in fifth year, it was like an ice bucket of water in the face. Now, I'll never like that git, but I'll be damned if anyone says he's more professional than me."

"Pranks are fun, but it's a dangerous time right now. Hell, it was dangerous in our time, too, and Dumbledore should have reined us in more. We can't be sure that somebody who is sneaking around isn't meaning to do harm to another student or staff member. So, unfortunately, that means we have to act responsibly," he finished. "After all, Harry's here; it needs to be safe for him."

"Did that cause you pain to say?" Remus asked teasingly.

Sirius shrugged. "A little."

The door opened and four men came in. As head of security, it didn't surprise anyone that one of those men was Worf. The other three were a mystery to the former Marauder, however.

Buffy explained, "All three of these men have experience with providing security – and circumventing it – so they should be able to help determine what we should do with your items – whatever they are."

"First is a map that shows the school and everyone in it," James said. "I don't know how the renovation affects it, but at the very least, we know the spells to create a new one if we have to…which we probably should anyway to make it more professional. The other things we used for our pranking were two-way communication mirrors."

Remus spoke up at that time, "They aren't what you're thinking. They're more like telephones, but with live pictures so you can see each other while you're talking."

"Video chatting in the Wizarding World? I'm shocked and impressed," Buffy replied.

"I count three ways we could use the mirrors," Nate Ford said. "First is having stationary mirrors set up in the public areas of the school with matching mirrors in a security room with a team watching them. Second, have the security members carry handheld mirrors with them while patrolling so they can raise an alarm quickly if necessary. And last, put some in the classrooms, dorms, and other locations like the front office to make communications easier. Then we don't have to bother the house elves to deliver messages, unless the messages have to remain private."

"We'll need a lot of mirrors," Jason Bourne added. "There's a lot of ground to cover in a place this size."

"And we'll need to make sure we eliminate blind spots if at all possible," Eliot Spencer said. His inner thief cringed at making the school a place he couldn't sneak into, but then again, he was supposedly reformed, and more importantly, people shouldn't be breaking into a school in the first place.

"I would like two versions of the maps done, if it's possible," Buffy told the Hogwarts alumni. "One version we can give the students that show them how to get to different parts of the school, and the other version is only for the staff, and that will show the names of people and where they're at."

"I think we're going to be very busy for the next several weeks," Remus told his friends.

"Maybe we can get some help from some trusted friends and colleagues?" James asked hopefully. If he was too busy with this project, Lily would be mad as hell at him for not getting help.

* * *

A/N: Hope you were sitting down when I showed you a more mature side of Sirius and James (especially Sirius). Any ideas what I should cover tomorrow?


	7. Chapter 6: August 6, 2015 – Mail

**Chapter 6: August 6, 2015 – Mail**

Chapter Summary: The Muggle healers and Buffy have some problems with owl delivery of mail.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – not sure, after she got the nurses and counselors

Warning: minor swearing

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I don't own the other shows/movies mentioned. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **The Great Hall**

Buffy was introducing the counselors and nurses to the rest of the staff at breakfast when the morning mail and newspapers were delivered by a parliament of owls.

"What the hell?" the newest members of the staff yelled in disgust.

Greg Focker watched as one of the owls dropped off its letter, then proceeded to drink out of the student's glass. "I can't even _begin_ to count the number of health violations this scene has broken! I feel the need to disinfect my mouth just from watching this!"

Since she had already witnessed – and was grossed out by the owls walking around on the table full of food and drink – Buffy concentrated more on the red, smoking envelope over at the Ravenclaw table. Then it began screeching. "What the hell is that?" she echoed her nurses' earlier question.

Madame Pomfrey explained, "That is a howler. They're spelled to shout their contents at a louder-than-normal volume. If you try to ignore them, they spew insults and curses at you until they explode into flames."

"Can't one of you mute that thing?" she asked as the letter ranted about the student's grade on a test 'only' being an Exceeds Expectations instead of an Outstanding. The student was a disgrace to the family and should have studied harder, etc. etc. etc. "If I have to listen to any more of this, I'm going to rip it to shreds…then go after the person who sent it."

Flitwick shook his head regretfully, "They are charmed to resist outside spellwork."

Those that knew her could see she was seething at that point. "I see, and does this happen often?" she asked with a deceptively soft voice.

"It varies from year to year," McGonagall replied. "Some years we only see a couple, and others it's almost a weekly occurrence."

Buffy calmed herself with a couple deep breaths, then said, "Cole, Walter? Can I see you two in my office after breakfast? I would also like to have Drs. Bellows and Evans join us," she added with a look in their direction. Both doctors nodded their acceptance.

Thankfully, the howler was finished by that point, and the rest of breakfast passed uneventfully.

* * *

 **Buffy's office**

"I hope you are planning to do something to stop those howler letters," Marlena Evans demanded as soon as they were assembled in the office. "Public humiliation is a horrible way to mold a child's behavior…especially for something as trivial as a test score!"

"I would like to know why birds are allowed in a place where food is being served," Alfred Bellows added with a shudder of revulsion.

"Walter," Buffy spoke to her assistant, "I'd like you and Cole to work out a plan to create a mini-post office here. We'll get one of the part-time witches or wizards to check the mail for anything dangerous. Other than the newspapers, I don't see a reason why the students need to get their mail right before classes begin. That's bound to cause some distractions. It'd be better if they didn't get it until after the school day is over.

"Doctors, I need you to draft a letter to the parents that explains why we are doing this. Don't use too many psychological terms – I don't think psychology is known…at all – in the Wizarding world – but make it clear that we will not allow howlers in the school anymore. If they are upset enough about something to send one of those headache-inducers, they can set up a parent-teacher conference to discuss their concerns. Make sure they understand that any howler that comes into the school will be immediately destroyed by whatever means that it takes," Buffy told them with a deadly look in her eyes. "Once it sounds professional and diplomatic, I'll sign it. I figure you're better at the flowery speech stuff than me."

"I was a _military_ psychiatrist, Miss Summers," Alfred retorted, "We didn't do flowery…but we did do tactful," he allowed with a smile.

* * *

 **A couple weeks later…**

Cole explained the new mail system to the staff so they could explain it to the students later. "We've taken one of the unused classrooms near the Great Hall and converted it to a mail room. All the owls will be directed by the school's wards to go there instead of to the students.

"Once in the room, the letters are sent through a detection machine we were able to lease from the Quibbler magazine. The owner's developed the machine because her husband kept getting dangerous mail and she didn't want to put their child at risk because of an upset reader. Anything that is dangerous is sent to a location away from the school until somebody from the DMLE comes to pick it up for investigation purposes.

"After that, Madame Hooch will sort the mail and put it in the proper slot for the student or staff member. If it is marked urgent and is for a student, it will be sent to myself or Buffy and the student will notified they need to come to the office right away. At the beginning of the year, each person in the castle will receive a medallion like this one," he held up a coin that had a Muggle mailbox on it. "If there's something in their mailbox, it will flash the words, _'You've got mail'_ ," he said with a slight roll of his eyes. Walter had a strange sense of humor.

"You're asking Rolanda to become a clerk?" Sprout demanded, offended on her friend's behalf.

Cole raised his eyebrow at that. Did she know she was basically insulting the man at his left side with that remark? _**'Probably not,'**_ he thought. "Right now Madame Hooch works about three days a month. We're offering her a position that allows her to become a full staff member, which in turn allows her the benefits of such a position – like living in the castle year-round."

"What he said," Madame Hooch agreed with a softer tone in her voice than his. "I'm happy about this, Pomona, I really am!"

"Other than the newspapers – which will be delivered to the Great Hall by the elves – the mail will only be available to the students after their last class for the day…about 3-4 pm," Buffy interjected before things could get tense.

"Until we learn how to remove the screaming feature of howlers, they will be enclosed in a bomb disposal box until they explode. Nearby a dict-a-quill will write down what the letter says…in case there's something the student or staff member actually needs to find out. I hope these new measures give us peaceful breakfast times," she added, feeling the need to end the meeting on an optimistic note.

* * *

A/N: This is before the renovation. After the renovation, the mailroom is in the lower level of the owlery.


	8. Chapter 7: August 7, 2015 – Killers

**Chapter 7: August 7, 2015 – Killers**

Chapter Summary: Buffy has an interesting conversation with Gibbs.

Warning: mild swearing

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – about a month after Gibbs comes to the school, but before it's renovated and before Giles takes over the Watchers' Council

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. NCIS characters belong to Donald Bellisario, Don McGill and CBS Paramount Television.I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Side of Black Lake**

Gibbs sat down near Buffy, and watched as she whittled a piece of wood into a…stake? Well, if magic and werewolves were real, why couldn't vampires be real, too? Setting that issue aside for the moment, he asked a question that had been bothering him for several days, "Is there a reason you hired the people you did?"

"Hi to you, too, Gibbs," Buffy snarked. "You mean besides the fact they had the job skills I was looking for? What are you really asking?"

"Why do you have a bunch of killers on staff of a school?" he half-asked/half-demanded.

"I'll admit some of them have…interesting pasts," she allowed.

"Not counting the cops like Goren, Ellison and Gideon – who may have had to kill in the line of duty – I get the distinct 'killer' feel from Cole Turner, Eliot Spencer, Jason Bourne, Lee Stetson, John Black, Balthazar Blake and Worf," he listed.

"Don't forget Jon O'Neill," Buffy added helpfully. "I know he's only 17, but he has some of the oldest eyes I've seen on a teenager who didn't live on a Hellmouth."

Gibbs nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. Sometimes I'll be talking to him and I'll feel like I'm talking to an old war buddy from Desert Storm. Can you answer my question now?"

"You know that a civil war just ended in this community last fall, right?" she asked rhetorically. "Right now I don't believe that war is fully over yet. Sure, the leader of the other side – Voldemort – is dead, but we both know that doesn't ensure the other side will give up. Hell, sometimes it even makes the rest fight harder.

"I've read about his followers. They called themselves 'Death Eaters' and the stuff they're accused of doing is among the sickest shit I've heard…and I've heard some sick stuff. Rape, murder, torture…putting a mind-whammy on people to make them rape, murder and torture their loved ones. I don't believe anyone it purely good or purely evil, but these bastards are pretty close to it. These are the kind of people that wouldn't hesitate to attack a school of children.

"Now, on the other side of the conflict you had the government and a private force run by Dumbledore. While the Death Eaters were killing during the fights, these other two groups were either stunning or wounding the bad guys. Neither group gave their fighters the right to kill intentionally.

"So let's say that one of Voldemort's former minions decides that he wants to go for the prize himself and thinks that holding the nation's children hostage will get him what he wants. If that happened, would you rather have people who hesitate before firing back, or people who won't lose any sleep over killing any threat to the students they're bond to protect?" Buffy asked, daring him to object to her choices now that he knew her reasoning.

Then she smiled and said, "Don't worry, you aren't the first to ask me this. Half of the people you mentioned have asked me the same question…as has the Director of the DMLE. I have a bet with Cole and Walter who will be next. Cole won with you."

* * *

A/N: Sorry, I'm really tired today. I may come back and edit this later, but wanted to get this posted in time.


	9. Chapter 8: August 8, 2015 – Harkness

**Chapter 8: August 8, 2015 – Harkness**

Chapter Summary: A student decided to test the 'helpless' women.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – first dueling class of Magical Protection (aka DADA)

Warning: more swearing; guess I'm in just a swearing kind of place these days

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Marvel Comics characters belong to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Magical Protection classroom**

"Did you see those lame witches as they droned on about using magic responsibly?" a random snotty male student asked his friends as they left the class. "Ugh, if the older one wasn't ancient and the younger one was better looking, I'd say they needed to get some quality bed time with a guy. Maybe loosen up their prissy panties."

"I bet they don't even know how to use a wand," an equally obnoxious friend replied. "Either kind," he added with a lecherous chuckle.

Their conversation grew more vile and offensive as they got further away from the classroom, where the two witches in question were shaking their heads ruefully at the stupidity of youth.

"Do they not understand how echoes work?" Tara asked her mentor. "I mean, it wasn't like they were trying to be quiet in the first place, but if they were, they should probably know that the acoustics in this castle cause sound to amplify their idiocy…or at least their idiotic remarks."

While she was past caring what slugs like those boys thought of her sex life, Agatha Harkness was deeply offended at the suggestion that she was a powerless witch. While she was slowing down some and couldn't fight her usual opponents without great risk to herself, she could certainly handle these little skid-stains on the underpants of humanity. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order that wands aren't the solution to every problem," she suggested to her protégé with a dangerous smile.

"Either kind of wand," Tara repeated the earlier loathsome comment with her own dark smile.

* * *

 **Next class period…**

When she heard about the group of boys who offended Agatha Harkness and Tara, Buffy knew she had to see them taken down a few pegs by the two witches. It would hopefully teach the boys a lesson, and it would be less painful than if they had to learn it post-Hogwarts.

"Class," Agatha began in an imperious tone, "It has come to my attention that some of you doubt my ability, and that of my apprentice, to teach you how to fight using magic. To address that issue before we go too far, we are going to defend against five of you…you five," she pointed to the boys from the other day.

The boys, who were at first a little embarrassed for being singled out, quickly decided that they could have some fun with this 'demonstration'. Their leader smirked and asked, "You sure you can handle this?" as he held his hands out as if to display his body. He looked at Buffy and added, "We won't get expelled or anything for beating them, will we?"

Buffy jabbed her nails into her arms to keep from laughing at him. He was _sooo_ going to pay for that arrogance. As soon as she felt she was in control of herself, she answered, "As long as you don't break any rules, I assure you that you won't be expelled. Don't hurt them too much, please."

Even though Tara knew who Buffy was speaking to, and nodded her silent agreement, it was the boy who answered her, "No problem, Headmistress."

He started the fight by gesturing to his friends to spread out in a half circle around the two women. So he wasn't entirely stupid; that was good to know. One of the boys was a Death Eater wannabe, and thought he would attempt to seriously hurt one of these bitches in order to punish the woman who destroyed the Dark Lord. Even if it got him expelled, it would at least give him credibility in the Dark Lord's organization…and maybe a place among their numbers.

As they raised their wands in unison, Tara held out her hand and spoke, "Thicken!"

The air in front of the boys rippled like water and their movements appeared sluggish.

"Spirits of earth, magic and wind, let the nightmares for these boys begin!" Agatha chanted.

While nothing happened to the boys overtly, in their minds they each had identical visions. Their wands were swapped with the body part they also called their wands, much to the amusement of the faceless people in their nightmares. They heard female voices saying, "Guess both of their wands are useless."

When the spell was released, four of the boys fell to their knees almost crying in relief that their wands were wands again. The fifth boy glared at the two witches and attempted to raise his wand again.

Agatha held out her hand in front of her and a beam of light struck the boy in the chest. The class was astonished – and a little frightened – when the wordless spell turned him into a slug.

Agatha walked over and said to him, "Do not test my patience, child. I have forgotten more about magic than you will likely ever learn."

* * *

A/N: I couldn't really find anything that showed me Agatha's 'voice', so I apologize if I got it wrong.


	10. Chapter 9: August 9, 2015 – Cooking

**Chapter 9: August 9, 2015 – Cooking**

Chapter Summary: A change to the schedule has McGonagall seeking Buffy out for answers.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Just before Christmas break

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Facts of Life characters belong to Dick Clair, Jenna McMahon, Columbia Pictures Television and Sony Pictures Television. Leverage characters belong to John Rogers, Chris Downey, and TNT. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch character belongs to Nell Scovell and Viacom Productions. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Great Hall**

Those that were watching the Summers sisters have a spirited discussion wondered if they should be concerned about the Potionmaster's physical well-being when Buffy suddenly stood up and demanded that he follow her to her office immediately. Did he make an unwanted advance towards Dawn in his first week of teaching her? Was he _that_ suicidal?

Nobody noticed when an elf came to deliver a note to Professor Zelda Spellman fifteen minutes later; they were too busy taking bets on how soon Snape would be thrown out of the castle – and in what condition he'd be in when it happened.

When Dawn began her apprenticeship with Snape, she was caught off-guard by the lack of instructions and/or demonstrations from him. She, of course, called him on it, and he shot back that maybe muggles held their students' hands, but this was how potions were taught in the Wizarding World.

Dawn could understand that attitude at a university level, like her apprenticeship would be considered, but if the same were true for all levels of Potions, that was just…wrong!

So she told Buffy, who was just as outraged as she was and Dawn couldn't help but smile a little as Snape followed her sister out of the Great Hall. She didn't mind snark, but this guy had a major wand up his butt the size of a Redwood tree.

* * *

 **Buffy's office**

The stress ball that Buffy picked up and began squeezing the minute she sat behind her desk lasted for about five squeezes before she had it completely flattened. What the hell were these wizards and witches thinking?

Since the school year had already started by the time she took over, Buffy didn't know how first year Potions classes began. She had made the mistake of thinking that it started like chemistry classes – explaining the rules of the lab and stressing safety above all things.

Then Dawn dropped her little bombshell on her. "My sister just shared something rather disturbing with me, Potionsmaster Snape. I really hope she misunderstood you, though. Did you really just put a potions' recipe on the blackboard in your room in the first class of your first year students without explaining lab safety to them or demonstrating how to prepare their ingredients?

"Those topics are covered in the books. It is up to the students to make sure they understand them before coming to class," he sniffed in disdain. Whiny brat just had to go and complain to her big sister, didn't she?

"And that's what happened in your first class?" Buffy pushed, not sure which answer would make her feel better.

"Well, no," Snape admitted. "Slughorn tended to coddle his students, though," he added in his defense.

"Twain!" Buffy yelled. When the elf appeared, she wrote out a note and asked him to deliver it to Zelda Spellman. Hopefully her new professor had a different take on teaching methods.

* * *

 **July 1982**

McGonagall read the booklet which was going to be sent out to all the students and stopped when she read the prerequisite for Potions. Since when did the classes have prerequisites? And why would that prerequisite be Cooking, Muggle-style? She decided to find out by asking Buffy.

Since the school was renovating itself, they were staying in Wizarding tents on the grounds. McGonagall walked over to the day tent, where the staff got together to talk and prepare for the upcoming year. She located Buffy and sat down beside her. "How can cooking be a prerequisite for Potions?" she asked.

"Good morning, Minerva," Buffy replied. "I'm fine, thanks for asking. To answer your question, let's go visit Eliot and Edna. Actually, I think this would be good for everyone to see since there's bound to be some questions about our plans."

"Our?" McGonagall asked.

"Zelda, Eliot, Edna and me," Buffy replied.

She made an announcement to the tent and everyone walked down to the mock teaching kitchen.

When everyone was seated at the stations, Buffy asked Eliot and Edna to practice their first class with the teachers as their first years.

"Okay, students!" Mrs. Garrett sang out, "Settle down! At each of your stations, there is a sheet of paper that has the rules of conduct for this class. Please read them carefully and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Once you understand them, you need to sign and date the page at the bottom."

A glare from Buffy had the teachers pretending to go along with the rehearsal.

"Now that that's taken care of, I'll explain the reason for these rules. When working in a kitchen, there are many opportunities to injure yourself. To minimize the risks, we ask you to be careful around the stove and oven, to take special care when using dangerous tools such as knives and to not mess around with each other's work.

McGonagall raised her hand, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. "I still don't understand what this has to do with potions. Can you explain that to me?"

Eliot took over by tossing her a bag of carrots. "Julienne those carrots for me," he ordered. "Without magic," he added.

Still confused, McGonagall nevertheless followed his instructions. When she was done, she handed the bowl of julienned carrots back to him.

He glanced at them and declared, "They're acceptable for forgiving recipes, but for the touchier ones, the strips need to be more uniform. Does anyone know why I had her do that?"

Tara raised her hand and answered when he nodded at her, "Because the same thing is true when preparing potion ingredients. Some recipes aren't as picky about measurements or the way ingredients are prepared, but some recipes can be dangerous if done haphazardly. Until you learn which are which, it's better to err on the side of caution."

"Very good, Miss Maclay," Eliot praised her, causing her to blush. "You must have had an excellent teacher."

"My mother," Tara said softly.

Mrs. Garrett smiled kindly and moved on in the lesson plan, "The purpose of this class is two-fold. First, we will teach you how to cook without magic in case you ever find yourself in a situation where your magic doesn't work. Second, when you pass the class, you will be able to prepare ingredients properly and will understand the different tasks involved with creating a potion…only in here, the end result will be something that's edible.

* * *

A/N: Nothing I can think of, unless you have suggestions for tomorrow's.


	11. Chapter 10: August 10, 2015 – Prejudice

**Chapter 10: August 10, 2015 – Prejudice**

Chapter Summary: Buffy rants when facing a bigot.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Second day of the school year in the renovated castle

Warning: OC introduced for the purpose of this chapter

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Breakfast Hall**

 **September 2, 1982**

"Headmistress Summers, I protest having another course added to my class schedule without my asking for it," a sixth-year Gryffindor complained loudly as soon as she walked into the Breakfast Hall.

Sensing a teachable moment for all the students – since apparently this student didn't read the booklet sent to her over the summer – Buffy asked politely, "And which course would that be, Miss Keller?"

"Intro to the Wizarding World!" Miss Keller snapped, annoyed that she even had to explain it. Wasn't the Headmistress aware of the courses her students were taking?

"You would do well to watch your tone, unless you want to be the first student this year to get detention. ' _Intro to the Wizarding World'_ , huh? So that means you were raised in the non-magical world, correct?" Buffy inquired, glancing down at her school map, which showed who was talking to her.

Understanding that her anger, while fully-justified in her mind, wouldn't help get her out of this situation, Miss Keller nodded silently.

"Okay, fine…if you want to get out of that class, I will tell you what I've explained to all the other students who wanted to get out of a mandatory class: if you can pass the final exam for the course, you will get credit for taking the class," Buffy replied.

"But what good will this class do me? It's just a bunch of stupid pureblood nonsense!" the irate teen groused.

Buffy shook her head and looked at her sadly. "So I guess this means that after you graduate, you plan to leave the Wizarding World and go back to the non-magical one? Because I'll tell you right now that with your attitude, you will have a hard time finding any kind of work without knowing Wizarding etiquette.

"Before you open your mouth and stick your other foot in there, let me tell you that it doesn't have anything to do with blood status. Yes, there is some class status, but it's the same thing in the non-magical world. You wouldn't go up to the Queen, slap her on the back and ask 'What's shaking, Queenie?'

"The course will explain the proper way to address your colleagues at work, as well as your superiors wherever you are employed. You'll learn how to treat the goblins of Gringotts with respect. You'll learn the old – and somewhat forgotten – days of magic, and which rituals work best on which days. There's a lot more, but you'll see it on the syllabus during the first class.

"As far as I can see, the students who fare the best are the ones who are raised with a foot in both communities. They know how to go around the non-magical world without drawing undue attention to themselves, as well as keep from offending the magically-raised-only people,

"I agree that there are some things that need to change in the magical community, but in order to do that, you must get others to work with you, not just do what you say because you _think_ you know better. If something is unjust or dangerous, you have to explain rationally why you think so.

"Take, for example, the house elves. At least half of the non-magically-raised students in this room are horrified at the 'enslavement' of the poor house elves. The ones who aren't fall into three categories: the ones who don't know about house elves, the ones who don't care either way, and the ones that have actually done some research on the matter and/or talked to a house elf.

"House elves and wizards have a symbiotic relationship. Wizards may call it 'owning' the elves, but that is only because once an elf chooses to bond with a wizard, the choice to end the bond goes to the wizard. While elves can bond to Hogwarts, that is only because of the magical ley lines the school sits on. They give the school a sort of artificial intelligence, which acts as a wizard in the relationship with the elves. Still, the percentage of magic they can draw to keep themselves alive from that bond if far lower than they get from an actual wizard or witch.

"The professors will give you a better explanation, but I felt I needed to impress on you the importance of learning about the community you plan to live in for the rest of your life," Buffy finished before sitting down again.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if there are mistakes, I made the fatal error of updating to Window 10 before writing/posting my story.


	12. Chapter 11: August 11, 2015 – Rowena's C

**Chapter 11: August 11, 2015 – Rowena's Chamber**

Chapter Summary: Buffy grants the house elves their greatest w-i-s-h.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – May 1981, before the castle renovation

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Buffy's office**

Buffy looked up when she heard the nervous stuttering of Scooby, one of the trainee house elves. There were two elves standing behind him, urging him forward. It felt very funny – in a haha way – to her, so she had to keep her smile to a minimum in order to keep from scaring the elves.

"Mistress Buffy," Scooby finally managed to get out, "…we house elves were wondering if you wants the comes and goes room packed, too?"

"Have the elves already finished packing the rest of the unused parts of the castle?" she asked, not thinking about how the question would sound to the elves.

The distraught looks on their faces clued her in very quickly, however, and she added before any of them could claim to be bad elves or punish themselves, "Not that that matters. We have another month before school lets out, so we aren't in a rush. I thought you were telling me in your own way that you ran out of things to pack. Do you think it will take very long to pack up the room?"

"Oh yes, Mistress Buffy, that is why we asks now," Twain said from his spot behind Scooby.

"And why did you have Scooby ask me?" Buffy asked.

Twain bowed his head in shame for his deceit. "Wes be thinking that if Scooby ask you, you be saying yes because you have a special like for him."

Ignoring the eww-thought that popped into her head at the 'special like' comment, Buffy focused more on her amusement of them trying to manipulate her into giving them more work. "So it's important to you to get to pack this room?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

All three of the elves look like somebody offered them the Holy Grail. Their eyes grew even wider and they seemed almost reverent as Scotty – the last elf in the room – whispered, "It is the dream of all Hogwarts elves to be getting to clean the comes and goes room! It is the greatest challenge for us!"

"Alright, let's go take a look at your Mt. Everest," Buffy said, getting up to walk to Rowena's chamber.

* * *

 **Rowena's Chamber**

After thinking about the office, Buffy led the elves into the room and asked as she looked around, "Why is this so special to you? It doesn't look all that challenging to me."

"This is only one version of the comes and goes room, Mistress Buffy," Twain explained. "There be hundreds or thousands of versions. The greatest of all is the Lost room," he added with a awed sigh.

"Hundreds or thousands, huh? Sounds like it might be hard to get through them all…unless there's a way to combine them somehow. Let me look at the manual Rowena left. You can start packing up this room while you wait for me; just leave the desk and the pedestal, please," she requested.

Buffy fought the urge – but not entirely successfully – to laugh when the elves practically skipped away to begin their work. She grabbed Rowena's manual from the desk and opened it up. She skimmed through the book until she got to the section on the room's functions.

Once she read the instructions, she took a dicta-quill and some parchment from the desk drawer and said, "Please list all the different forms Rowena's Chamber has become."

The dicta-quill started writing, using the magic of the room to give it the words to write. When it reached the bottom of the parchment, it hovered in place until Buffy put down a new sheet. This happened many more times, despite the small print and the numerous columns.

Not wanting to count all the lines, she asked, "How many different forms of Rowena's Chamber have there been?" She looked down and saw the answer: 638. "That's a lot to go through," she murmured.

"How many outside items are in all the different forms of Rowena's Chamber?" 2,492,417. "Other than the manual, inside items couldn't exist if you attempted to remove them from the room, so they didn't count.

"Whew, that certainly would be a challenge," Buffy agreed.

"So Mistress Buffy will let the elves clean the room?" Scooby asked with such hope in his voice that she couldn't have said no, even if she wanted to.

"It should be fine, but let me see if I can speed it up by combining the different forms into one room. And I'd like to see if we could return some of these lost items to their owners…going back maybe 10-20 years or so?" she said/asked.

She grabbed a new piece of parchment and said, "Write a list of lost items in Rowena's Chamber from the current school year." The list wasn't too bad…maybe two or three dozen items. She did the same thing for each year back to 1960.

Scotty spoke up again, "Mistress Buffy needs reminding that wizards and witches live longer, so maybe she should do more years?"

She agreed and asked for a list going back to 1860, separated by year. While the quill was scratching away, she kept reading. After a few minutes, Buffy requested, "Create a side room for the items in all the forms of Rowena's Chamber from the current school year."

"We can only do ten side rooms at a time, unless they are really small. The magic required could affect the school's wards if I draw too much power for this, I can't do that," Buffy explained to the elves. "Please pack up the items in that room and I'll have one of the staff inform the students that we'll have a lost and found pick up later on today. First, the staff will ensure that there's nothing dangerous or illegal in there."

"Will the other elves be allowed to clean with us?" Twain asked. It wouldn't be fair if they didn't allow others to join in their rapture.

"Sure, as long as it doesn't interfere with their regular duties. I think we'll have to move one of the Wizarding moving boxes in here to pack everything. Well, you guys have fun cleaning. Just let me know when I need to ask the room for something else."

* * *

A/N: I just thought elves would find that their dream task.


	13. Chapter 12: August 13, 2015 – Modern Con

**Chapter 12: August 13, 2015 – Modern Convenience**

Chapter Summary: Buffy's assistant needs at least one convenience to run the school.

Crossover: Harry Potter, Charmed, SG1

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Within a week of Buffy hiring Walter Harriman as her administrative assistant.

A/N: While this is set in 1981, the level of technology available is for the most recent fandoms (Criminal Minds, Leverage, etc.)

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Charmed characters belong to Constance M. Burge and the WB. Stargate SG-1 character belongs to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Buffy's office**

 **November 1981**

"What I think we should do next is-" *THUD* Cole was interrupted by a sound in the outer office.

"You okay out there, Walter?" Buffy called.

"Doing great!" he called back.

Buffy and Cole shared a look before deciding to get back to their staffing plans.

"Like I was saying, the next class we should-" Cole managed to get out before he was stopped by the sound *CLACK-CLACK-CLAK*.

Buffy was just about a decade too young to recognize the sound right away. While they weren't obsolete by the time she was in high school, they weren't all that common, either. She apologized to Cole and got up to see what was going on with her assistant.

"What's the what?" she quipped over his shoulder, seeing a typewriter on his desk.

It was probably due to his tenure with Col. O'Neill that Walter wasn't confused by her words. They were different, but still very much the same. "Since I can't bring a computer here, I figured that my next best option would be a typewriter."

"See, that's why I count on you," Buffy praised him. "I didn't think of an alternative to the no-computer issue."

Cole interjected, "We could also open a floo to a house where there's an office set-up, complete with a computer, printer, fax…the whole package. We could have non-magical mail sent to that location and brought through to the school."

"I love being surrounded by smart men!" Buffy gushed. "I wonder if they'll let me give you raises this soon. Maybe we could talk to some of the non-magical parents; let them be part of planning this off-site location? I don't know this region that well, so I'd probably end up picking a place in the most expensive part of the area."

"I also thought it could be useful to teach typing to the students," Walter proposed. "While it isn't exactly the same as keyboarding for a computer, it's pretty close. The students who live in the non-magical world could benefit…and if we could get the professors to accept typed homework, all the students could benefit."

"How expensive is it to get a bunch of these?" Buffy asked.

"It was about $150 for this model. We'd have to get more ribbon on a regular basis, but that isn't too bad. If we made it optional, I bet it wouldn't take too long before a significant portion of the students picked this over handwriting their assignments with a quill. The professors would have to give instructions for both methods, since a foot of typed is far more work than a foot of handwritten."

"We'll have to see how a silencing spell affects it 'cause I think the clacking will get on my nerves pretty fast if we can't make it quieter," Buffy suggested.

* * *

 **OMAKE:**

Running into one of the pureblood parents in Diagon Alley, Buffy wasn't quite prepared when they asked about the supply list…and how she managed to get her writing so small, evenly spaced and identically written.

* * *

A/N: With the floo connection, Walter might not need the typewriter that much at the school, but then again, who knows if he trusts Buffy to survive all day without him.


	14. Chapter 13: August 14, 2015 – Ethics

**Chapter 13: August 14, 2015 – Ethics**

Chapter Summary: Agatha Harkness explains why the students need to be careful using magic.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.

Timeline: Storywise – Agatha Harkness explains the purpose of the class to her 5th years.

A/N: After thinking about it, Buffy and Agatha decided that the 5th years had to take Ethics as well since that's the last year they're required to attend Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Marvel Comics characters belong to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Auditorium**

Agatha looked at all her students spread throughout the auditorium. This class was many firsts for these children. The first half-year class (1 semester – a term they introduced to the school). The first lecture-style class with all the other students in their year, and most obviously, the first course in the ethics of magic use.

"As there is no practical portion to this course, this will be the only format we'll use. Other classes such as charms or transfiguration will also have smaller classes for casting spells," she explained for the audience.

"On the overhead projection, there are two quotes. Can anyone tell me what they would have to do with this course?" Agatha inquired.

The quotes she projected with the help of the planetarium equipment were: " _An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"_ and _"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."_

A rather timid girl near the front raised her hand and answered part of the question, "You shouldn't do any magic on somebody that you wouldn't want used on you?"

"Very good, Miss Rhodes," Agatha replied.

"So you don't mind if somebody turns you into a slug?" a voice from the middle of the class asked.

"Next time you wish to speak, please raise your hand," she chided mildly. "While I wouldn't enjoy being turned into a slug, there are a couple things to consider about that circumstance. First and foremost, it was a fight. Now I might not _like_ being transformed, but I do accept that as a possibility when I'm fighting somebody. Granted, this time it was only a duel – which is why I didn't use any magic that could permanently hurt those young men. In a real fight, you have to use spells that might otherwise seem horrifying to consider…unless you are willing to die for your beliefs.

"The other issue was reasonable retaliation. Did you hear the details of the duel?" Agatha asked, knowing that these children were two years younger than the boys she battle with Tara; they couldn't have witnessed themselves.

A hand went up and she nodded at the boy. "Yes," he answered, "My older brother was in that class."

"Please describe for the students how the duel went," Agatha ordered. "I'll correct any major errors."

"You picked five boys and just as the duel was about to start, your assistant froze them with a spell. You cast a spell that had something to do with nightmares. Once you released them from that, you turned one of the boys into a slug and leaned down to whisper something to him that my brother couldn't hear," he recited.

"Remarkably accurate for hearsay," Agatha remarked. "Before I correct the most glaring error, I'll ask all of you a question and want you to raise your hands if the answer is yes. If one side is incapacitated in a fight, do you consider the fight over?" All the hands went up. "So when the losing side is freed by the winning side, would you still consider the duel complete?" A couple hands went down momentarily but eventually went up again.

"Now we get to the part that your brother failed to mention – or perhaps didn't notice," Agatha said to the young boy. "When I released them from their nightmares – which were visions in their minds based on some vile things they said about myself and my assistant – the young man in question raised his wand to cast a spell. Given the look on his face, I highly doubt that his spell would have been benign. If it had happened outside of school, I would have maimed or possibly killed him."

Several students went white at her matter-of-fact mention of ending somebody's life. The worst was the boy who dared to ask her if she would be okay with being turned into a slug.

Agatha noticed his fear and decided to reassure him a little. "I don't mind honest queries; questioning authority is the sign of an independent spirit. That said, if you want to question me, be sure that it is a genuine question. I will not tolerate questions that are asked for the express purpose of being disruptive."

She turned her attention back to the projection and asked, "What about the first quote? How does this relate to our class?"

It took a full thirty seconds for one of the brighter students to raise his hands, then answer, "If we don't use our magic responsibly, fixing the aftermath of it could come back to bite us in the- it would cause trouble for us," he quickly altered his response when he remembered who he was talking to.

"Nice save," she said with a touch of humor. "Can anyone give me the most egregious example of this in the British magical community?" She waited several seconds before offering a hint, "It happens with such regularity that most people don't even see it as a problem anymore."

"Oblivation?" a girl from the back asked after Agatha acknowledged her hand in the air

"Precisely!" Agatha confirmed. "In a majority of the cases, Obliviation is caused by a wizard or witch being reckless with their magic. There might be times when it is necessary to do magic in a non-magical area, but you should have a good reason for it."

"What's a good reason?"

"I'll give you three examples from recent history, and you can tell me if any are justified. Scenario one: a wizard apparates to the non-magical side of Kings Cross and is seen by Muggles. Scenario two: a wizard sees a child about to drown in the river and uses the levitation charm to pull the child to safety. Scenario three: a witch wants something from a Muggle store but doesn't have Muggle money to purchase it. Are either of the wizards or the witch justified in obliviating the Muggles?"

It was generally agreed that the third one was wrong – because it involved stealing something. It was also almost unanimous that saving somebody's life was acceptable. The students were pretty much split down the middle on the first scenario…until one Muggleborn mentioned that it was just as easy to apparate to the magical side and walk out of the portal which had a permanent notice-me-not charm on it.

That led to a spirited debate about other acceptable/not acceptable reasons to obliviate Muggles. Agatha ended the impromptu debate by bringing it back to the quote. "If you know how to blend in with non-magical people, there will be less of a chance that you'll need to cast a spell on them. It's dangerous to count on that spell to fix the problem anyway…especially given the level of technology used in public areas now. You may get the one person who saw you at the moment you cast the spell, but the cameras recorded you, and that's not good."

* * *

A/N: I think I got everything I wanted to cover…or at least most of it. Any suggestions for tomorrow?


	15. Chapter 14: August 15, 2015 – Clubs

**Chapter 14: August 15, 2015 - Clubs**

Chapter Summary: Buffy's counselors are appalled at the lack activities available to the students.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Christmas break of the first year (1981-1982)

A/N: I'm sure some of these clubs are already part of the school (or I possibly missed some that already exist)

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. DoOL characters belong to Ted and Betty Corday, Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television. IDoJ characters belong to Sidney Sheldon, Sidney Sheldon Productions and Screen Jems Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Counselors' offices**

"No, no, no! This is not acceptable!" Marlena protested after reading over the non-academic activities available to the students. "These children are being stifled!"

"I agree, Dr. Evans," Alfred Bellows said. Despite her protests, he had trouble being casually familiar with a female colleague…especially one with such a dangerous husband. "Perhaps if they had other things to occupy their time, they wouldn't get into so many fights. Do you have some suggestions we could take to the Headmistress?"

* * *

 **A couple days later…**

After giving her the current list of activities (with the staff advisors) and the suggested expanded list, Marlena and Alfred gave her some time to consider their ideas. Then they came back for another meeting.

"We can leave the current clubs – including the academic ones – as they are," Buffy started. "We'll let the students know that if there is interest in forming clubs for any other classes, they can tell us and we'll do our best to form one. I've talked to some of the staff about the new/altered clubs and got some interested responses in being staff advisors. What I have so far is:

Chloe Sullivan – School Newspaper

Morticia Adams – Choir

Andromeda Tonks – Chess, both regular and wizarding-style

Amanda King – Volunteering, both on school grounds and in Hogsmeade

Jethro Gibbs – Woodworking

Cole Turner – Debate

Lorne – Drama

Raj Koothrappali – Cheerleading, right now just for Quidditch, but also for other sports in the future

Glenn Holland – Orchestra

Blair Sandburg – Culture Studies, which builds on the language classes

Filius Flitwick – Species Studies, which goes beyond CoMC

Augusta Longbottom – Student Council

Adam Pierson and Gomez Addams – Dueling

"We'll expand the sports beyond Quidditch – and dueling – once we find advisors for them…assuming there's enough interest in them. Same goes for these clubs; they'll only exist if the students want them to. However, to encourage them to participate, they can earn points towards different rewards – like an extra hour in Hogsmeade," Buffy finished.

Alfred spoke up, "We should make these clubs a privilege, not a right. If their schoolwork is faltering or they are constantly in trouble, they won't be allowed to join a club – except perhaps the volunteering club, which would make it community service for them."

* * *

A/N: Just a short one today because of a family birthday celebration. Tomorrow…sports clubs.


	16. Chapter 15: August 17, 2015 – Sports, 1

**Chapter 15: August 17, 2015 – Sports, 1**

Chapter Summary: Buffy gets started on some informal sports for the students.

Crossover: Harry Potter, MacGyver, Stargate SG-1

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Starting with Christmas break of 1981-1982

A/N: Uber short because…life.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. MacGyver characters belong to Lee David Zlotoff, Henry Winkler-John Rich Productions, Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution. Stargate SG-1 character belongs to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Hogwarts grounds**

It was after dark when the students arrived back from Christmas break, so they wouldn't have seen the changes that occurred while they were away…except for the lights illuminating the area in question. Several of the Muggleborn asked, "When did we get an ice rink?"

Not just one rink, but two of them…with seating around each of them, plus a warming house and a concession stand.

Buffy saw the coaches pull up and carefully made her way over after putting guards on her skates. "Welcome back! As you can tell, we sort of lost track of time here. The rink was just installed earlier today and we got caught up with enjoying the grand opening. We have regular skating on the front rink and a pick up hockey game on the back one.

"Tell you what, if you'd rather just head to dinner, you can. The elves have everything ready. Or…you can join us here for a little while; if you're hungry you can eat something at the concession stand. It isn't a feast, but the food is yummy. We'll go inside in about an hour. That way you can enjoy the rinks tonight. See Professors Flitwick and McGonagall to have them change your footwear into skates temporarily."

Exactly zero of the students who just arrived opted to go inside. Even those who weren't too sure about skating still wanted to try out the concession stand and visit with the friends they hadn't seen for a couple weeks.

They watched as Headmistress Buffy taught some of the students how to skate. She was very patient with them and assured them that almost everyone fell down a lot when they started learning. Thankfully, the staff had cast cushioning charms on the students' clothing, so it didn't hurt as much when they fell.

Over at the other rink, MacGyver and Jon O'Neill were opposing captains for the pick-up hockey game. It was a much milder version of the game because of the various ages of the players. Checking was forbidden…at least for this game.

One hour came and went with nobody wanting to go inside yet. To compromise, the warming house was expanded to fit a quarter of the students at a time. Each house would take a break from skating to go inside and enjoy the welcoming feast prepared by the elves before going back out onto the rink.

When it came time for curfew, the students barely had enough energy to change into their nightclothes before falling asleep. None of them managed to last more than ten minutes. The staff (apart from security) lasted about twice as long.

* * *

A/N: Tomorrow will probably be short as well because it's supposed to be busy at work.


	17. Chapter 16: August 18, 2015 – Filch

**Chapter 16: August 18, 2015 – Filch**

Chapter Summary: How do you solve a problem like Filch?

Crossover: Harry Potter, mentions of Charmed and DS9

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – vague for Buffy's first year as Headmistress

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Hogwarts entryway**

Sighing as she watched Filch intimidate some students coming back from the Quidditch game, Buffy knew she had to do something about the surly caretaker. Getting Worf and Hagrid to take over security – and with house elves able to do the cleaning part of his job description – she didn't really have a reason to keep him on staff.

But she couldn't just throw him out…the little voice in her head that sounded exactly like Cole reminded her that people needed a chance to prove themselves worthy. What Filch could be worthy of, she had no clue. He seriously couldn't be around children, though. The only way she'd allow that would be in a Halloween horror attraction where he was _supposed_ to terrify them.

After all the students came in, she kept watching from the shadows as he cleaned the entryway while having a running monologue directed at his beloved cat, Mrs. Norris. His beloved cat…Mrs. Norris. Huh, that brought up a couple questions. First and foremost, why name a cat Mrs. Norris? Second, where was Cole? She needed to brainstorm an idea with him.

* * *

 **Hogsmeade**

 **A couple weeks later…**

After a brief conversation with Filch about his dreams and aspiration, Buffy knew she was on the right track with her plan to remove him as caretaker without tossing him into the street. With some financial backing provided by James Potter and Sirius Black – who felt students deserved a Filch-free school experience – Buffy was able to get the property and start-up capital she needed.

And now she was unveiling her plan to Filch.

He was staring at her suspiciously as they walked to the far side of Hogsmeade village. It was almost like he expected her to try to lose him in the forest and hope he couldn't find his way back. His dark thoughts broke off when she suddenly stopped in front of a small cottage. "What are we doing here, Headmistress?" he snapped.

"I thought you might like to see Hogsmeade's newest business," Buffy replied with an impish grin.

Filch sneered, however. "Another store to sell the students worthless items to clutter up the castle…bah!" he cursed in the direction of the house at the unseen occupants who would make his life even more difficult.

Gesturing at the cottage, Buffy started walking around the side of it. "This is just where the owner will live. The real business is out back." There was a medium-sized barn with a white screen covering a majority of the front. "Now, Hagrid!" she shouted.

The screen disappeared to reveal a sign that said, 'Filch's Fine Cats and Kneazles'. It was clearly a magical sign because there were kittens and full-grown cats/kneazles stalking and pouncing all over the letters.

"Headmistress?" Filch whispered in awe. When he told her his dream, he expected her to laugh at him, not make it come true.

"While you may not get along great with students, you seem to have a way with cats. At least you have a passion for caring for them, and that means a lot for a business like this. Hagrid and Fester can teach you about breeding them. We found another cat-lover who can handle the selling side of the business. Her name is Arabella Figg.

"James and Sirius put up the seed money to get you started. All you have to do is sign the papers, agreeing to pay them back with 50% of the profits until the no-interest loan is paid off." She turned to look at him. "What do you think? Wanna give it a try?" she asked.

"Thank you, Headmistress," Filch said softly as he fought to keep the tears at bay.

* * *

A/N: This challenge was a lot easier before I had a full-time plus job.


	18. Chapter 17: August 19, 2015 – The Point

**Chapter 17: August 19, 2015 – The Point System**

Chapter Summary: Buffy's revised point system needs another revision.

Crossover: Harry Potter, Facts of Life, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, The Cosby Show, Stargate SG-1, NCIS

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise - summer after Buffy's first year as Headmistress.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Facts of Life characters belong to Dick Clair, Jenna McMahon, Columbia Pictures Television and Sony Pictures Television. NCIS characters belong to Donald Bellisario, Don McGill and CBS Paramount Television. Stargate SG-1 character belongs to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. The Cosby Show characters belong to Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson, Bill Cosby, Carsey-Werner Productions, Viacom Productions and Carsey-Werner Distribution. Scarecrow and Mrs. King characters belong to Brad Buckner, Eugenie Ross-Leming and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Staff meeting**

Buffy listened as several of the teachers pointed out the flaws in her point system; most notably, the difficulty in fairly judging 1st years' accomplishments in a similar manner as the 7th years. Even by giving the different years different expectations, it would still leave the system biased.

"What if we do away with the competitive nature of the system altogether?" Mrs. Garrett asked. "Just leave the competition for sports and academics."

"No point system?" McGonagall asked in horror. First the Sorting Hat was made obsolete and now this.

Quickly shaking her head, Mrs. Garrett reassured the transfiguration professor, "We'd still have a point system, but the reason for it would be to earn rewards appropriate for the age group. For example, if one of the upper year houses earned a certain number of points, they'd receive an extra Hogsmeade weekend. For the younger years who can't go to the village, maybe a pizza party?"

That made them all think for a few moments. Most of the teachers were nodding as they starting considering the different 'prizes' the students could win.

"How often would these rewards be given?" Clair Huxtable asked.

"How many different levels of rewards do we want for each house?" Jonathan O'Neill asked.

Dawn suggested, "What about several smaller monthly rewards and one major reward for end of term – like one just before the winter break and the other after end of year exams?"

"Like maybe a prom-type party in the great hall for the older students as their end of term reward," Buffy said. "I'd like that goal to be easy to achieve so most of them can go."

"I think all of the students would enjoy a carnival," Amanda Stetson remarked.

"What about special awards for the individual students who earned the most points for their house?" Pomona Sprout asked.

"Like maybe a gift certificate for the school commissary," Jackson Gibbs offered.

"What would we be awarding and removing points for?" Flitwick asked.

"Since we've eliminated sports and academics, I'd say for good or poor behavior," Buffy answered. "For example, if we have weekly dorm inspections and if a student's area is messy, they're docked a point"

McGonagall listened to the ideas flowing around the room and felt her earlier horror slip away. While it wasn't the same program that she had known all her life, it did have its merits. Without the competitive aspect, there would be less chance of bias on the part of staff to skew the system.

When somebody suggested a standardized list of ways to earn/lose points – along with the number of points for each event – bias was further reduced from the situation. Nothing could remove bias completely, of course. Nobody was suggesting that. But this plan was doing its best to keep it to a minimum…including random audits of each staff members' "Points Given/Taken" journal throughout the year.

* * *

A/N: Since I knew this was a concern for some people last year, I tried making the system a little better.


	19. Chapter 18: August 21, 2015 – Library

**Chapter 18: August 21, 2015 – Library**

Chapter Summary: Blair makes a suggestion to make the library more user-friendly.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Any time after Jim and Blair join the staff.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Sentinel characters belong to UPN, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Hogwarts Library**

"I'm telling you, Madame Pince, this will make the library run so much more smoothly!" Blair insisted.

She scowled at him. He had won some favor with her by referring to her as Madame Pince instead of Irma, but she could not allow him to harm her precious books. "You are talking about defacing the books!"

"Just a little sticker that can be held on with magic…not even hurting the books," he pushed some more. Then he came up with the perfect argument, "Once the students learn the system, they won't handle the books as much because they'll do their searching before going to the shelves."

That sounded too good to be true. "Tell me about this 'Dewey Decimal System' of yours again," Madame Pince ordered.

"Well, it's not mine, but okay…we break up the library into different sections – which is already done here, so we'd just have to add a few sections. Start with the big divisions: Reference – books/papers that are not allowed to leave the library at all, fiction and non-fiction. Then they are broken down into further divisions. Fiction would probably be just simple divisions such as: romance, adventure, mysteries…those sorts of things. Reference and non-fiction would be numbered divisions. In the non-magical world, those would be:

1 Class 000 – Computer science, information & general works

2 Class 100 – Philosophy and psychology

3 Class 200 – Religion

4 Class 300 – Social sciences

5 Class 400 – Language

6 Class 500 – Science

7 Class 600 – Technology

8 Class 700 – Arts & recreation

9 Class 800 – Literature

10 Class 900 – History & geography

Since many of the subjects found here are different from the non-magical world, those categories would be different. We'd have to come up with the categories and sub-categories ourselves."

"Sub-categories?" Madame Pince repeated, wondering just how involved this plan was and how long it would take to complete.

"For example, encyclopedias fall under Class 000, but you can break them down further like this:

030 Encyclopedias & books of facts:

030 General encyclopedic works

031 General encyclopedic works in American English

032 General encyclopedic works in English

033 General encyclopedic works in other Germanic languages

034 General encyclopedic works in French, Occitan & Catalan

035 General encyclopedic works in Italian, Dalmatian, Romanian, Rhaetian, Sardinian, Corsican

036 General encyclopedic works in Spanish, Portuguese, Galician

037 General encyclopedic works in Slavic languages

038 General encyclopedic works in Scandinavian languages

039 General encyclopedic works in other languages

Each book is assigned a number based on its category, sub-category, and to make it simple, an identifying number. So an encyclopedia about Quidditch would have a number something like 031.1. The next encyclopedia would be 031.2 and so on. The same system can be done on a smaller scale for the restricted section."

"Just how long do you think this will take?" she demanded.

Blair shrugged. "I don't know…maybe five years or so?" he guessed.

Her jaw dropped in shock. Five years?! "How is this going to help?"

"Sorry, forgot to mention the card catalogue part," he said sheepishly. "In a convenient location, you have the card catalogue which stores the cards which hold the information on each book: its number, author, volume, date published (if known) and a brief description of the contents. Generally, it's a good idea to have at least two copies; one sorted by author or title and the other sorted by a keyword. Maybe three copies," he changed his answer.

"The student comes in, looking for a book written by…Rowena Ravenclaw. Rather than roam the shelves for hours, he goes to the card catalogue and looks under Ravenclaw, Rowena. The catalogue will tell him any books that list her as an author. He writes down the information – or uses a copy spell – and goes to the section(s) of the library where the books are located. Since the books are stored by number, it's fairly simple to locate them without grabbing a bunch of unnecessary books in the process."

"That sounds nice," Madame Pince allowed reluctantly, "But five years?"

"With just the two of us working on it? Yeah, that sounds about right," he theorized.

* * *

 **Months later…**

As it turned out, Buffy was able to some part-time help for Blair and Madame Pince. Over the summer, two dozen former students – vetted by Madame Pince – assisted them in determining which books went in which categories, then numbering and creating card catalogues. When the students returned in the fall, they had a class in how to use the new library system.

By the end of the year, it was decided that the new system was a hit with both the students and Madame Pince. From then on, she let Blair call her Irma…as long as there were no students within earshot.

* * *

A/N: I assume there was some kind of system in place, but how detailed was it?


	20. Chapter 19: August 22, 2015 – Addams

**Chapter 19: August 22, 2015 – Addams**

Chapter Summary: When Morticia discovers that she's pregnant, the Addams family decides it's time to go home.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – Spring/Summer of 1982

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Addams Family characters belong to Charles Addams, Filmways and MGM Television (through The Program Exchange). I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **The Shrieking Shack**

"Thank you for agreeing to meet us here, Headmistress," Gomez said by way of greeting Buffy. "We have a lot to finish before we leave."

Buffy smiled, despite her nerves being on edge in this house. The reputation of the house didn't concern her – especially since she had talked to the Marauders about some of the supposed 'haunted' sounds that Remus was responsible for during his transformations. No, it was the fact that the Addams family lived there for several months and had time to add who knows what kind of nightmarish creatures/plants/crimes against nature and humanity…all in the name of making it more 'homey'.

"I hear from Hagrid that congratulations are in order," she said. "You and Morticia are expecting a baby?"

"It's wondrous news, isn't it?" Gomez asked rhetorically. "But that means we need to go home; she said that she'd rather have the comforts of home during her pregnancy: her own bed of nails, the family rack, the-"

"I assume there was more to your invitation than just telling me that you were going back to the States," Buffy interjected before she could hear anymore. She got the impression that S&M people would get freaked out by this couple.

Her comment drew him from his wistful daze. "Precisely!" he exclaimed. "I have two propositions to make which concern the school. I'd like to go into business with you…in a manner of speaking. From my understanding, the school governors are squeamish about the Acromantula colony being so close to the school. Cowards, the lot of them! They'd make a wonderful challenge for the students!"

Since Buffy agreed with the governors on this one, she remained silent.

Before he went on a tangent about weak-willed wizards raising scaredy-cat children, Gomez made his proposal, "I would like to take the Acromantula to one of our family islands and breed them. While I have the funds to purchase them outright, I thought it might be more beneficial if I purchased them by giving the school 1% of the product and 25% of the profit from the ranch."

Buffy thought she understood, but asked for clarification, "By product, you mean…?"

"Venom, silk, meat," Gomez confirmed.

She nodded in relief. "So no baby monster spiders."

"No," he answered with his trademark grin. "What do you think?

It took Buffy about a second and a half to reach her decision. "You've got a deal, Gomez," she said, holding her hand out to shake his.

The board might scream that she didn't negotiate a higher percentage, but to her this was a win-win. The school got rid of a major threat to the area, and would receive money for agreeing to the idea. The loss of profits didn't compare to the risk of a student dying when one of the spiders decided it wanted something tastier than a sheep.

"Marvelous! While I have you in such an agreeable mood, I'd like to steal your groundskeeper – but just during the summers; you can have him back for the school years. Hagrid and Fester get along famously, and Fester mentioned a project he wanted Hagrid's assistance with. Would that be acceptable to you?" Gomez asked.

"If Hagrid wants to work with your brother, I have no problem…as long as it isn't anything illegal," Buffy added because she somehow felt it was necessary to qualify her statement.

"Not in the slightest," Gomez assured her. Technically, he was telling the truth since laws didn't reach the island where Fester and Hagrid would hold their breeding experiments. But it was just as well that he didn't tell Buffy what they planned to cross. _'For a Slayer, she seemed rather skittish as well,'_ Gomez thought. _'She might be scared of the Quintaped/_ _Acromantula hybrid they were planning.'_

* * *

A/N: This one was for you, Harry


	21. Chapter 23: August 23, 2015 – Potions

**Chapter 20: August 23, 2015 – Potions**

Chapter Summary: Zelda makes a few demands for her classroom.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – day after Buffy hired Zelda Spellman

A/N: Super short one today (barely met the minimum). Goes hand in hand with chapter 9 – Cooking

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch character belongs to Nell Scovell and Viacom Productions. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Potions classroom**

Buffy rushed down to the potions classroom after a house elf delivered an urgent message from her 'youngest' professor. Actually, Zelda informed her that she was probably one of the oldest living members on staff at the castle, since she was born in the 14th century, but since she was in the body of a prepubescent, she looked younger than her students.

As soon as she entered the room, Zelda demanded, "Look at this room! What's wrong with this picture?"

Buffy glanced around, trying to see what would upset her so much. This would probably require logic…something she learned wizards apparently tried to live without. Since potions was similar to chemistry, she tried to remember what a chemistry lab was supposed to look like. "Well, it's rather dark in here," she began. "And I don't see an emergency wash station anywhere." There was probably more, but that's all she could think of at the moment.

"The cauldrons are far too high for the students to see in properly. They don't have sanitized cutting surfaces for preparing their ingredients. The scales they use aren't calibrated correctly. They don't tie their hair back while brewing. They wear loose robes in class instead of aprons or lab coats, and they don't use safety goggles or gloves!" Zelda practically screeched.

"I take it that you'd like to make some changes, Zelda?" Buffy asked.

"I insist on it!" Zelda replied with righteous indignation. This kind of brewing went out of style during the early Victorian Era…unless a witch felt like being particularly stereotypical.

"Alright, get me a list of required equipment, and I'll do my best to get it for you," Buffy promised.

"Would that include moving the classroom to a place with better lighting and ventilation?" Zelda asked.

"I insist," Buffy said with a smile.

* * *

A/N: Surprised nobody died in that class.


	22. Chapter 21: August 25, 2015 – Security

**Chapter 21: August 25, 2015 – Security**

Chapter Summary: Buffy finds some more security staff…if Worf approves them.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – maybe spring-ish of 1982?

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron**

"Hey, Clem…what's up?" Buffy asked the saggy-skinned demon when he sat down at her table in a quiet corner of the pub.

"Just enjoying myself as I travel the world, doing whatever," he replied. "Currently 'whatever' includes acting as the middleman for a group that is seeking sanctuary with you."

"Who are they and why do they need sanctuary?" she inquired.

Clem gestured for somebody to join them and let that person answer Buffy's question. "Damian, this is Buffy Summers, the Slayer. Buffy, this is Damian Dean, the head of the clan I mentioned. Tell Buffy about your problem," he encouraged Damian.

"Well, my clan is being tracked by a group of pure-breed demons known as the Scourge. They hate any non-pure demons and wish to destroy us because we are Brachen demons…most of us only half or quarter demon," Damian explained.

Buffy sighed, "I think I remember these Scourge guys. They either inspired the Nazis or were inspired by them." She chuckled shortly. "They're kind of like the pure-bloods in the wizarding world with their 'only the pure deserve to exist' crap. I don't think I can put the students in danger by giving you sanctuary at the school, though," she told him regretfully.

Clem cut in quickly, "But you wouldn't be putting them in danger. The Scourge wouldn't be able to find the school unless they were led there by a demon like me. Whatever magical spells the wand-wavers put up around their magical enclaves not only hides them from most humans, but also from most demons. Only a small number can get around the defenses. A lot of those are because they have some wizarding blood in their ancestry somewhere."

"How many are we talking about?" Buffy asked.

"There are thirty in my clan," Damian answered, feeling hopeful for the first time in over a year.

She blew a breath out. "I don't think I have enough space in the castle for that many." She thought for a few seconds, then added, "Maybe you could live in Hogsmeade. That's a magical village."

"Thank you for helping us," Damian said. "If there's anything we can do to earn our keep, just let me know."

"Well, I can't guarantee anything, but if we can get you set up in Hogsmeade, I'm looking for some security personnel for the school. If I remember correctly, Brachen are pretty tough and have some useful abilities."

"We would be proud to protect the students," Damian declared.

"You'll have to convince Worf first," Buffy warned, remembering that Brachen tended to be less violent than other species of demons, and therefore potentially unsuited to a job which would require fighting.

* * *

A/N: Now she's got the non-magical half of her security force. Throw in some Aurors and maybe a few other wizards/witches and voila!


	23. Chapter 22: August 26, 2015 – Change the

**Chapter 22: August 26, 2015 – Change the World**

Chapter Summary: Buffy chats with Cole and Gideon about how she'll change the British Wizarding World.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – June 1982

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Charmed characters belong to Constance M. Burge and the WB. Criminal Minds characters belong to Jeff Davis, The Mark Gordon Company and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Staff lounge**

Taking a rare moment to kick back and relax a little, Buffy found herself in a somewhat deep conversation with Cole and Gideon.

"I'm rather impressed with the way you're trying to change this society," Gideon began. "You aren't shy about demanding some changes outright, but you're sneaky about some of the others."

She quirked an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Like insisting on having non-magical staff members and encouraging more studies that don't focus on magic. You're willing to stand up to the board members on overt things like that," Gideon explained.

"Yeah, I got that…I meant, what do you mean about being sneaky?" Buffy clarified.

"The way you are slowly subverting the pureblooded students. Well, maybe subverting is the wrong word since I don't think you have evil intentions," he corrected himself before she could object. "You're changing their views about those without magic without demanding they change their beliefs overnight. Like how you switch between the terms 'Muggle' and 'non-magical'. You are weaning them away from the use of a term that's barely a step up from 'mudblood'…and it includes anyone and anything that's non-magical – such as squibs…another racist term."

Buffy felt better about his observation once he explained it better. "I can't remember the exact quote or who said it, but I remember something about how if you want to change a society, you have to change the children first. It may take a few decades, but I'm hoping that it will happen."

"I think that you have a good chance," Cole said. "At least as far as the students are concerned. The adults may still want to get rid of you, but the students already respect you because they believe you're fair."

"Really?" she asked, feeling insanely proud of that.

"They know that blood status doesn't matter to you," Gideon confirmed. "If somebody is causing trouble, you'll punish them. Same goes for praising them for good work or actions."

"The interesting thing is that there are two actions that won you more respect than anything else you've done here," Cole mentioned. "First is how you handled Severus' situation and second is how you plan to change the houses next fall."

Although it was repetitive, Buffy asked again, "Really?"

Because he was closer to Severus, Cole explained, "Almost all of the students didn't like him as a teacher, but respected him as a potions master. The students from his house felt like his favoritism towards them only served to isolate them more from the other houses. If he remained a teacher and head of house, it wouldn't take long before they could only be friends with other Slytherins…which would make for a very lonely life if they didn't believe in the pureblood doctrine.

"While you could have tossed him out on his ass, you gave him a job he excels at, yet still benefits the school. You improved the school experience for them while showing compassion for him. It makes them hopeful that you care about all of them, not just the ones you like," Cole told her.

Gideon picked up from there. "Which brings us to your plan to change the house system. While some of the older students are leery of the change – and we'll have to watch for trouble in their dorms – most of the students approve. Most of that approval is due to Lorelai and Luke. Lorelai pointed out that you weren't trying to ignore the Founders and their place in history; you are just trying to take the best lessons they taught while setting aside the harmful.

"Luke then reminded them that it was the cooperation of the four Founders that created the school. If the Founders were as competitive as the houses are today, the school would never have existed."

"Huh, that's a good point," Buffy said. "I hadn't thought of that."

Gideon appeared surprised by that. "Why did you change the houses then?" he inquired.

She shrugged. "It just seemed stupid to me to label them for the rest of their lives because of a single trait that they may or may not have at the age of eleven. Seriously, how many people have the same personalities as they did when they were that age? And think about the pressure they're under to 'live up' to the standards of their house. What if a Gryffindor isn't 'brave enough' for their housemates? Or a Ravenclaw thinks there's more to life than just book-learning? School is hard enough without that added crap."

* * *

A/N: Assuming Musie doesn't take me into a different direction tomorrow, I'll probably hit on either healing or phys ed.


	24. Chapter 23: August 27, 2015 – Magic Scho

**Chapter 23: August 27, 2015 – Magic School Bus**

Chapter Summary: Ms. Frizzle reveals the origins of her special bus.

Crossover: Harry Potter, Back to the Future, The Magic School Bus, mentions of DS9

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise - vague

A/N: Changed my mind about what I was going to cover today. Author's prerogative.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The Magic School Bus character belongs to Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen, Nelvana Limited, South Carolina ETV and Scholastic Entertainment. Back to the Future characters belong Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale and Amblin Entertainment. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Several years in the future (assuming Buffy doesn't get kicked out)…**

Before they packed their stuff up for the last time, Clara and Doc Brown's sons took a side trip to speak to their favorite professor. They had a question they had been wondering about for as long as they could remember.

"Ms. Frizzle," they said in unison.

"Jules, Verne…how are you doing this beautiful day?" she inquired. It didn't matter what the day actually was like, she'd call it beautiful even if they were in the middle of a blizzard. Anything could be turned into an adventure with her.

Verne handled asking 'the question' for both of them, "We were hoping that now that we've graduated, you'll tell us where the bus came from."

She gestured for them to sit down, then said, "It isn't that I don't want to tell you; I can't tell you…because it just appeared one day with a note that it was a present for me to use in my teaching. Inside was a basic manual to explain what it did, as well as the necessary paperwork showing I was the owner, not the school district where I worked," she explained.

"So there wasn't any hint as to who gave it to you?" Jules asked.

Ms. Frizzle gave them a secretive smile and answered, "Not at the time, but now I have an idea." She paused while she considered whether she should say anything more, then decided to be a little vague about it. "There's a plaque near the driver's seat with a quote on it. It says, 'Knowledge of the universe is only limited by imagination.' It's signed 'Jules-Verne'. I don't recognize the quote, but it certainly sounds like the man. Now…you should finish packing," she said with a knowing look.

On their way back to their apartment, the boys discussed what she said. "Do you think she was talking about us?" Jules asked his brother.

"I don't know if she knows she's talking about us, but I think we could be the ones who make the bus for her. All of the professors agree that we are the best at combining magic and technology," Verne said with barely a hint of pride. It wasn't a competition, per se, but the challenge of seeing what they could invent next.

Case in point, his mind was already considering what spells it would take to make the bus do all the stuff it did without requiring magic from Ms. Frizzle. Delivering it to her was trivial since they already had their father's work on time travel and could easily handle bringing the bus to the past.

"We'd need to put shrinking and growing runes on it," he muttered out loud, starting to brainstorm.

Jules added, "And see if we can adapt the spells for Rowena's chamber to be portable."

"We should talk to Mr. Worf about his knowledge of space travel and whether we can replicate the engines somehow for the bus," Verne returned. On and on they went as they moved through the halls.

* * *

 **Even further into the future…**

Jules and Verne's children continued their studies. They found it took too much power/energy to fuel actual trips into space, so they adapted the hologram technology that Worf explained to their fathers and made it seem like the bus left Earth. What actually happened was the bus turned into a holodeck which made it appear like they could leave the bus and walk on Mercury or Pluto or whatever.

The simulation would end when Ms. Frizzle said something akin to 'we're home' or 'home sweet home' when they returned to the holodeck version of the school. Even she wouldn't be aware they hadn't left the school parking lot. To keep people from freaking out when a bunch of students went into a bus and didn't go anywhere for several hours, a special avoidance spell was added; it was a mixture of thinking they saw the bus leave added to a compulsion not to park in that spot.

All that was required by their fathers was the promise that when the project was completed, there would be a plaque added to the driver's side and that it would be delivered to Ms. Frizzle before they went to Hogwarts in 1981.

* * *

A/N: So it becomes a paradox of some kind. They create the bus in the future to give to her in the past because they enjoyed learning about science in the past using the bus, thus inspiring them to learn more about the origins of the bus itself.


	25. Chapter 24: August 29, 2015 – Sports, 2

**Chapter 24: August 29, 2015 – Sports, 2**

Chapter Summary: They were tricking the students into exercising.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Storywise – spring/fall 1982

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Hogwarts**

 **Spring…**

By the time spring rolled around, so many of the students – and staff – were addicted to the novelty of new sports to participate in that Buffy had to think of spring sports to introduce so they wouldn't mourn the ice rinks too much. As much as she would have liked to put track and field in, it was too similar to exercise for many of the students to want to participate in it. Maybe next year if she was still headmistress.

Jason Bourne offered to teach baseball to any student who wanted to play, regardless of sex. That had moderate interest, but was deemed rather tame by most. Compared to Quidditch, only hockey and rugby would be considered as exciting because of the sheer number of injuries sustained. What a weird indicator for interesting.

Not _necessarily_ as violent, but pretty damn close at professional levels, was football. Not American football – although that was injury-inducing as well – but what was known in the United States as soccer. Given the immense popularity of the sport in the non-magical world, Buffy figured it would go over great at Hogwarts. At least the students who knew about it were excited the first year. The popularity would increase over the years. It was especially popular with the girls when they heard that Jarod (no last name) would be the one advising the soccer club.

Since this was the UK and they were already having baseball, Lily Potter pointed out that they should have cricket as well. Buffy agreed, as long as Lily didn't try to explain the rules to her.

The absolute most popular decision Buffy made – at least with the male students – was introducing the wizarding world to cheerleaders. Their outfits would have been considered very frumpy in the non-magical world, but for this repressed community, the form-fitting clothes the girls – and one or two boys – wore left very little to the imagination.

To almost everyone's surprise, it was Rajesh Koothrappali that offered to serve as advisor for that club. Apparently his mutism didn't register the girls as women he couldn't talk to, and he had a passion for the sport that carried over to the cheerleaders and their routines.

* * *

 **Fall…**

By the time fall rolled around the next school year, the returning students were wondering what new sports opportunities would be waiting for them. Quidditch and football were the recurring sports, as well as the cheerleading squads for them. Raj even suggested a flying cheer squad for Quidditch matches.

Buffy added archery, which one of the friendlier centaurs from the forest offered to teach in gratitude for her getting rid of the Acromantula colony. With the changes in the school, she was also able to add swimming/diving as taught by Eliza Thornberry.

Eliot Spencer offered to teach Tae Kwon Do, which was popular with the girls, and therefore garnered a lot of attention from the boys as well. Nevermind that Eliot had no intention of getting involved with jailbait; the boys didn't want to take that risk. He was already swooned over by the girls because he could cook and 'looked sexy doing it'.

Over the years, more sports would be added, but Buffy didn't want to overwhelm them right away with all the choices available to them.

* * *

A/N: Figured I had to get back to this since the earlier Sports chapter was labeled '1'.


	26. Chapter 25: August 30, 2015 - Ghostbuste

**Chapter 25: August 30, 2015 - Ghostbusters**

Chapter Summary: Buffy doesn't mind living and let dying, but there are limits.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2015 August Fic-a-Day Challenge

Timeline: Just after Christmas break 1982.

Warning: bashing/banishing of an annoying character

A/N: Yes, the summary is a shout-out to a James Bond movie and its title theme song.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Ghostbusters belong to Columbia Pictures. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

 **Buffy's office**

McGonagall looked at the headmistress anxiously. Buffy was pissed off!

"That…turd," Buffy censored herself, despite there only being adults in the room, "…endangered the health of my students…for a freaking prank! I don't care what it takes, I'm sending him to the afterlife!"

Flitwick spoke up carefully, "It's been tried before…with terrifying results. No magic can remove him from the school; it's just something that we've had to accept over the centuries."

The glare she shot him caused him to squeak in alarm. Even worse was the smile that replaced it. He seriously needed a bathroom quick.

"If magic doesn't work, then I'll just have to give science a try," Buffy told her subordinates. "Walter, look up a group in New York City. They call themselves the 'Ghostbusters'."

"It's 555-2368," Walter answered immediately. He smiled sheepishly and explained, "They have a very catchy theme song… _who ya gonna call?_ " he couldn't help but sing.

Cole interjected, "I'm not sure they're still in business. After their initial popularity in saving the city, people – mostly politicians – blamed them for the damages caused by the ghosts."

"Then hopefully they'll be looking for work," Buffy said. "I'm not putting up with Peeves for any longer than I have to."

* * *

 **A week later…**

After negotiating a fee, which included free airfare for the team, Buffy and Cole went to meet them in London. They waited by the luggage carousel with a sign that had their names on it.

Three rather nerdish looking men were walking near a black guy who looked like he belonged in uniform rather than a suit. The nerd in glasses stepped up to them first. "Miss Summers?" he asked in Buffy's direction. After she nodded, he introduced himself and his team, "I'm Dr. Egon Spengler, this is Drs. Peter Venkman and Ray Stantz, and last but not least, Winston Zeddemore."

She returned the favor, "Buffy Summers and this is my Deputy, Cole Turner."

Once they were in the car and headed towards the muggle office for Hogwarts, Egon asked, "So tell us about this ghost problem of yours."

"Okay, first of all, I need to warn you that the castle has about a dozen ghosts, most of whom you need to leave alone. I'd have a riot on my hands if you got rid of the school mascots," she explained.

"Wait," Ray interrupted, "Your school is okay with that much paranormal activity?"

Buffy shrugged and said, "It is a school that teaches magic. It'd be kind of hypocritical for us to get antsy about a bunch of ghosts that aren't harming anyone."

"So there is one that is harming people," Winston guessed correctly.

"His name is Peeves, and he's a poltergeist that's been around as long as the school. Everyone says you just have to put up with him, but I can't do that after he released some poisonous spiders in the main eating hall. Several students ended up in the hospital either because they were bitten or because they were injured in the stampede to get away. He has to go!" she commanded.

* * *

 **Entryway**

Having been warned about Peeves' behavior, the team was geared up before they walked through the school's gates. It was a good thing, too, because he was waiting for them in the entry way.

"No-fun Mistress called somebody to get rid of Peevsie!" he complained from the first landing.

"Is everything prepared?" Buffy asked of Walter, meaning were the other ghosts warned to stay away until the all clear was sounded. He nodded. "Go to it, guys," she said to the Ghostbusters.

"Peevsie is going to make you pay for this, Mistress No-fun!" the nasty poltergeist screamed. "I'll get lots to make up for this!"

Ray threw down a box and said, "Trap is down!"

Peter said, "Heat 'em up." All four turned their proton packs on and pointed their streams at Peeves, one at a time, making sure not to cross them at all.

With his foot, Ray hit the button that opened the trap. They lowered Peeves down and when he was close enough, Ray warned them, "Cut your streams in 3…2…1!" He hit the button on the trap again, sealing Peeves inside.

"That was easy enough," Peter said. Then he turned to leer at Buffy, "Got any other problems I can _handle_ for you?"

She rolled her eyes and shot back with a smile, "We have an overflowing toilet in the boys' bathroom that you can clean up."

* * *

A/N: Not what I had planned, but then a story by redbayly made me do this. She reminded me about Peeves' character and that maybe I should do something about him since he was occasionally a hazard to the students and staff.


End file.
